The new role of open registries as flag states : the battle for a better image in an increasing competitive shipping industry

Under international law, every state has the sovereign right to establish the conditions under which it will grant its nationality to a vessel. By consequence, different schemes for ship registration have been developed, traditionally the nationalist and open system. While the nationalist system imposes strict requirements regarding national ownership and manning, along with burdensome fiscal regimes for the shipping industry, the open system offered flexible requirements and a friendly taxation environment, that help shipowners to minimize their operation costs.Open registries have been criticized for not complying with international accepted shipping standards in safety, environmental, and labour aspects. However, some of them have made great efforts to raise these standards, mainly obliged by the new demands of the shipping industry. Nonetheless, the shift to a new culture of quality shipping is not only a responsibility of flag states, but of all the actors of a maritime scenario