Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
record, PSC creates a club of higher-standard registries that are less likely to be inspected
and detained. It has provided an incentive for ship owners to register in states whose
vessels are not singled out for increased scrutiny under the system. A number of
fl
ag states,
in an e
ort to court ship registrations, have raised their standards, sometimes at the behest
of ship owners. While the system does not prevent the existence of poor-quality ships, it
does reduce the advantages to low-standard registries, and creates a mechanism to prevent
some of the worst ships from sailing until they do not pose an immediate threat.
ff
Conclusion
The environmental politics of the shipping industry are complicated by its increasing
globalization and in particular the regulatory environment in which international ship-
ping on the open ocean takes place. Since the ocean operates as a common-pool resource,
a system in which most international trade is conducted on ships registered in
ags of
convenience creates serious problems for environmental protection of the ocean.
Nevertheless, the system of international rules overseen by the IMO has been able to
in
fl
uence the standards on these ships, and thereby the overall environmental protection
of the oceans, by creating an excludable good (unfettered access to major ports) that ship
owners desire. That club good gives port states the ability to persuade registry states to
take on, and individual ship owners to uphold, a set of environmental and safety stan-
dards that continue to rise. While this system does not prevent all environmental damage
or ensure that all states and ships will adopt high standards, it has made a major
di
fl
erence in protecting the environment of the oceans from the damaging consequences
of international shipping trade.
ff
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