Characteristics of ownership

Abstract

The ownership of ships can be looked at in a number of different ways depending on the reason lying behind the classification. One can start by looking at ownership in terms of the purposes for which the vessels are to be used, that is, is the owner an owner only of vessels used for one particular purpose or does he own a mixed fleet? Or one can look at it in terms of company structure and this itself has three aspects, namely, is the owner an independent shipping enterprise, or is the owning company part of a conglomerate embracing also non-shipping activities, or is the owning company in fact a government enterprise? Another way in which ownership can be looked at is in terms of the nationality of the owner; as is well known this is not the same as the flag which the ships will fly. It is also interesting to look at variations in the pattern of ownership, both over time in a single country and between countries at one time.

Read at a seminar in Bergen, 23–6 August 1972, and printed in Shipping Management, edited by Peter Lorange and Victor Norman, published jointly by the Institute for Shipping Research, Bergen, and the Maritime Research Centre, The Hague. Reprinted by permission.