Outsourcing ship management: Implications for the logistics chain

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the probability that shipping companies outsource the management of vessels to ship management companies, a decision with many implications for the logistics chain. Data on 39,925 vessels are used to investigate to the extent to which 4,049 different ship-owners (each operating a fleet of at least two vessels) outsource to ship-management service providers. We rely on multinomial Logit random and fixed effects regressions to explain how the characteristics of the owners and vessels influence this decision. We find that the size of the firm in terms of the number of vessels and the number of different types of vessels influence the likelihood of outsourcing. Also, ship-owners frequently implement a mixed strategy and outsource only some of their vessels.

Do Port State Control inspections influence flag- and class-hopping phenomena in shipping ?

The flag of registry and classification society are an integral part of the target factors used by Port State Control authorities (PSC) when deciding on vessels to select for inspection. A ship-owner may then have an interest in changing the flag of registry (flag-hopping) and classification society (class-hopping) to avoid future controls. Using data on PSCs collected over 6 years from 7,500 vessels, we study the relevance of this assumption using bivariate Probit models. Our estimates show that vessels in relatively bad conditions are more likely to be subject to flag- and class-hopping and that these phenomena are more likely amongst vessels which have changed flag and class in the past.

Ship-owners' decisions to outsource vessel management

Shipping companies frequently outsource the management of their vessels. In this paper, we use data from Lloyd's Register Fairplay (2009) on 45,456 vessels belonging to 9,580 different shipowners to investigate the extent of outsourcing in shipping and to identify key factors affecting the likelihood of outsourcing. The results of our econometric analysis indicate that ship-owners' decisions to outsource are explained by the characteristics of the vessels in question (age, type, size) and the characteristics of the ship-owner (country of domiciliation, number of vessels). In addition, a specific country effect is identified for Greek ship-owners, which is in line with the findings of previous studies.

A longitudinal analysis of piracy in shipping

Using a dataset of 3,404 acts of maritime piracy from 1996 to 2008, this paper investigates whether piracy is related to the economic development and socio-political status of countries where attacks occur.maritime piracy

Vessels at risk and the effectiveness of Port State Control inspections

Port state control regimes have been established more than 30 years ago to help prevent accidents in shipping. These controls are obviously not sufficient to correct or prevent all hazards leading to an accident, but they have played a major role in the general reduction of the number of maritime accidents observed during the last decade. Using data on 42,000 vessels/inspections carried out from 2002 to 2009 by 18 state members of the Indian Ocean Memorandum of Understanding, this paper focuses more closely on the type of deficiencies found during inspections and on changes in these deficiencies over time and between successive inspections.

Piracy in shipping

Piracy in its various forms has posed a threat to trade and shipping for millennia. In the 1970s, a steady rise in the number of attacks ushered in the present phenomenon of modern piracy and not many parts of the world's seas are free from piracy in one form or another today. This paper reviews the historical and geographical developments of piracy in shipping, with a discussion on contentious issues involved in defining piracy. Using data available on piracy acts collected from the IMB related to 3,957 attacks that took place between 1996 and 2008, we shed light on recent changes in geography and modi operandi of acts of piracy and investigate how poverty and political instability may be seen as the root causes of piracy.

Ship-owners' decisions to outsource vessel management

Shipping companies frequently outsource the management of their vessels. In this paper, we use data from Lloyd's Register Fairplay (2009) on 45,456 vessels belonging to 9,580 different shipowners to investigate the extent of outsourcing in shipping and to identify key factors affecting the likelihood of outsourcing. The results of our econometric analysis indicate that ship-owners' decisions to outsource are explained by the characteristics of the vessels in question (age, type, size) and the characteristics of the ship-owner (country of domiciliation, number of vessels). In addition, a specific country effect is identified for Greek ship-owners, which is in line with the findings of previous studies

CO2 emissions from international shipping: Brown owners versus brown flags

This paper estimates the annual CO2 emissions by international shipping over the 2007-2009 period. Once controlling for the recent changes in activity levels in international trade, we evidence a slow-down of the total volume emitted in 2009. Using an exhaustive dataset of the world fleet, we provide international rankings in CO2 emissions both by country of ownership and by flag of registry of vessels. We finally study how, through flagging-out, most ship-owners from developed countries are implicitly exporting a share of their CO2 emissions under foreign flags. This suggests that a system based on taxes or quotas to be applied by vessel type rather than by the country of ownership or flag of registry may be more efficient to reduce CO2 emissions in shipping

Outsourcing ship management: Implications for the logistics chain

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the probability that shipping companies outsource the management of vessels to ship management companies, a decision with many implications for the logistics chain. Data on 39,925 vessels are used to investigate to the extent to which 4,049 different ship-owners (each operating a fleet of at least two vessels) outsource to ship-management service providers. We rely on multinomial Logit random and fixed effects regressions to explain how the characteristics of the owners and vessels influence this decision. We find that the size of the firm in terms of the number of vessels and the number of different types of vessels influence the likelihood of outsourcing. Also, ship-owners frequently implement a mixed strategy and outsource only some of their vessels

La détention des navires par les Etats du Port : Une application uniforme des règles ?

Les détentions des navires suite aux contrôles des navires par l'Etat du port sont l'objet de plaintes récurrentes de la part des armateurs. Ainsi, ces derniers s'interrogent régulièrement sur les raisons pour lesquelles, bien que les règles portant sur la sécurité maritime soient universelles, des disparités importantes sur le résultat des contrôles existent selon le lieu où ce dernier se déroule. Pour les Etats côtiers en charge de ces contrôles, ces disparités se justifient pleinement et s'expliquent tout simplement par des différences dans les caractéristiques des navires faisant escale dans leurs ports. Cet article utilise des données sur le résultat de 42071 inspections qui se sont déroulées au sein des 14 pays du Mémorandum régional de l'Océan Indien afin de savoir si l'argument avancé par les autorités en charge des contrôles est légitime. Si les caractéristiques des navires jouent clairement un rôle, en particulier le type, l'âge et la société de classification, il demeure toutefois des différences significatives au niveau de la détention selon les pays où l'inspection a lieu.