Date of Award
1997
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Master of Science in Maritime Affairs
Specialization
General Maritime Administration & Environment Protection
Campus
Malmö, Sweden
Country
Liberia
First Advisor
Pardo, Fernando.
Abstract
Trying to maintain Liberia’s position as the Leader in Registration Tonnage in the face of Strong International Open Registry Competition is all what this dissertation is about. Until 1993/1994, Liberia has been the largest registry in the world in tenns of gross registered tonnage. Considering the size and population of Liberia, proceeds received from its open registry activities is significant. Inspite of the seven years civil war, the registry has remain the only principal source of income for the government. But there are emerging competitions which pose threat to the registry. The aim of this study is to investigate who those competitors are and to examine carefully the reason for the decline over the past years. If the competition poses big problem, what is the solution and what could be done further to make the Liberian’s Registry of first choice? Could allocation of some of the fees from the ship’s registry provide sufficient capital to‘work improvement? This study also will discuss in brief the economic impact of open registries on the trading partners, countries providing ancillary services and open registries countries themselves. It will pinpoint the role Liberiaplay as a major shipping registry nation in providing incentives and opportunities in these three areas of world economy. Safety standards in the future of open registry, the problem of corrosion in the world's fleet and a possible solution including the question whether lMO’s work on maritime safety could help to keep Liberian Flag pre-eminent was analysed. There is a conclusion of the dissertation. In the conclusion, there are proposals and recommendations suggesting ways to keep the Liberian Open Registry pre-eminent. Few important proposals and recommendations to make possible changes in the Liberian Bureau of Maritime Affairs was also included.