Bareboat Charter (Ship) Registration

Book excerpt: This exhaustive book deals with the most important phenomenon in the evolution and development of international ship registration: organisation and management. Bareboat charters, a system of leasing in which a person takes over a vessel for a limited time in return for a payment to the shipowner, have become especially popular in the 1980s and 1990s. Yet only the odd article or pamphlet has emerged in this vital area; no comparable publication exists. The uncertainties in this area demand a practical resource. National legislation is not synchronised. The distinction between bareboat charters and flags of convenience remains unclear. These blurred lines and others can have dramatic results, leaving ship mortgages unprotected and threatening the vessel's hull policy. Bareboat Charter (Ship) Registration not only places the subject in the context of international law and trade relations, it also sets out the country-by-country practice of all nations offering bareboat charter registration service and examines the determination of the bareboat flag. Tables of cases, conventions, and legislation and an appendix of useful addresses add to the practicality of this book. It is therefore a comprehensive, easy-to-follow resource for academics - including maritime organisations and schools, economists, and researchers - as well as an invaluable guide for practitioners - such as maritime administrations, shipowners and managers, insurers and brokers, arbitrators, and classification societies.