Flag of convenience vessel

FOC is a term used to refer to a ship whose owner has registered the ship in a foreign country for convenience. Foreign shipowners register their ships in 12 countries, including Panama, Liberia, the Bahamas, the Marshall Islands, Singapore, Malta, and Cyprus, and enjoy various benefits in terms of starting and closing down their ships, tax systems, fundraising and transportation, hiring crew members, and safety regulations, making this an unfair ownership and operation model.

Foreign flags of convenience have been around for a long time, but the origin of flags of convenience dates back to after World War II, when the United States sold surplus wartime ships overseas, making them available to the United States in order to keep them under its control in the event of a crisis. It also encouraged civilian ships to be transferred to flags of convenience. Initially, the effective owners of flags of convenience were American oil majors and Greek shipping magnate Onassis (1906-1975), but in the 1970s, developed countries that had criticized flags of convenience as unfair competition also began to use flags of convenience, and the number of flags of convenience rapidly increased. In 2008, there were 12,553 flags of convenience in the world, totaling 401.51 million gross tons, accounting for 56% of the world's shipping tonnage. Of these, 39% were in Panama, 17% in Liberia, 10% in the Bahamas, 8% in the Marshall Islands, and 8% in Singapore. The main beneficial owners, in terms of deadweight tonnage, are Greece with 17%, Japan with 15%, Germany with 9%, Norway, the United States and Hong Kong with 5% each, and South Korea, the United Kingdom and Singapore with 3% each. Japan has about five times as many flag of convenience ships as Japanese-registered ships.

After World War II, the United States dominated the world's raw fuel resources, but in order to sell them in large quantities while competing with domestic resources in developed countries, it was necessary to lower ocean freight rates, which were a high ratio to the export price. At that time, a method of owning, operating, and building ships that was less expensive than domestic ships was required, and flags of convenience ships were born. Through this, American shipping grew into a multinational corporation. After the war, Japan became the largest importer of American raw fuel resources, so shippers and shipping companies began to charter large numbers of flags of convenience ships. Furthermore, the Export-Import Bank of Japan (now the Japan Bank for International Cooperation) gave favorable deferred payment loans to flags of convenience ships, and shipbuilding companies built them in large numbers, promoting their development. Although the United States was the creator of flags of convenience ships, Japan was the foster parent.

Flags of convenience have many negative effects on the beneficial owner countries, including reduced employment of seafarers, worsening working conditions, financial pressure, decline in national welfare, and business difficulties for small and medium-sized enterprises. Internationally, they have caused an increase in marine accidents and marine pollution, an increase in seafarers with unstable employment, and pressure on shipping in developing countries. In response to this, the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) has launched a boycott campaign, while the International Labor Organization (ILO) has adopted the "Convention on Minimum Standards for Merchant Shipping" and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted the "International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers" (STCW Convention), and are working on international regulations. At the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), discussions have been held on the abolition of flags of convenience for the development of shipping in developing countries. However, with the expansion of the use of flags of convenience by various shipowning countries and the neoliberal trend, the abolition of flags of convenience has run into a deadlock.

[Yoichi Shinohara]

"UN Report, translated by Takemoto Masayuki, 'Flag of Convenience and Multinational Corporations' (1979, Minerva Shobo)" ▽ "Modern Shipping, edited by Shinohara Yoichi (1985, Tax Accountant Association)" ▽ "Nationality of Ships and Flags of Convenience,' by Mizukami Chiyuki (1994, Yushindo)" ▽ "International Transportation Theory, edited by Takeki Masanaga (1998, Tax Accountant Association)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

略称FOC。船主が船籍を便宜的に外国に置いた船舶をいう。パナマをはじめ、リベリア、バハマ、マーシャル諸島、シンガポール、マルタ、キプロスなど12か国に、外国船主が船籍を登録することで、創・廃業、租税制、資金調達・移送、船員雇用、安全規制などに関して、さまざまな便宜を享受している不公正な保有・運航形態の船舶である。

　外国置籍は古くからみられたが、便宜置籍船の起源は、第二次世界大戦後、アメリカが余剰になった戦時建造船の海外売却にあたって、有事の際、自らの統制下に入れるため便宜置籍国への移籍を条件とし、また民間船のそれへの移籍をも奨励したことにある。当初、その実質所有者は、アメリカの石油メジャーやギリシアの海運王オナシス（1906―75）などであったが、1970年代に入って、それを不公正な競争者と批判してきた先進国も利用するようになり、急激に増加した。2008年の世界の便宜置籍船は1万2553隻、4億0151万総トンで、世界船腹の56％を占める。その内訳は、パナマ39％、リベリア17％、バハマ10％、マーシャル諸島8％、シンガポール8％となっている。また、おもな実質所有国は、重量トン数で、ギリシア17％、日本15％、ドイツ9％、ノルウェー、アメリカ、香港(ホンコン)がそれぞれ5％、韓国、イギリス、シンガポールがそれぞれ3％となっている。日本は、日本籍船の約5倍にも及ぶ便宜置籍船を保有している。

　第二次世界大戦後、アメリカは世界の原燃料資源を支配したが、先進国の国内資源と競争しながらそれを大量に売り込むためには、輸出価格に対して高い比率となる海上運賃を引き下げる必要があった。その際、自国船よりも費用のかからない船腹の保有・運航・建造方式が求められ、便宜置籍船が発生した。それを通じてアメリカ海運は多国籍企業として成長していった。戦後、日本はアメリカの原燃料資源の最大の輸入国となったため、荷主や海運企業は便宜置籍船を大量に用船するようになった。さらに、日本輸出入銀行（現、国際協力銀行）は便宜置籍船に有利な延払い融資を与え、造船企業はそれを大量に建造し、その発達を促進した。便宜置籍船の産みの親はアメリカであったが、日本は育ての親となった。

　便宜置籍船は、実質所有国では船員雇用の縮小、労働条件の悪化、財政圧迫、国民福祉の低下、中小企業の経営困難、国際的には海難・海洋汚染の拡大、不安定雇用船員の増大、開発途上国海運の圧迫など、多くの悪影響がみられる。それに対して、国際運輸労連（ITF）はボイコット闘争を展開しており、国際労働機関（ILO）は「商船の最低基準に関する条約」、国際海事機関（IMO）は「船員の訓練、資格証明および当直維持の基準に関する国際条約」（STCW条約）を採択し、国際規制に取り組んでいる。国連貿易開発会議UNCTAD(アンクタッド)では、開発途上国海運の発達のため、便宜置籍船の廃絶に向けて討議が行われてきた。しかし、多様な船主国による便宜置籍利用の拡大と新自由主義的な風潮のもとで、便宜置籍船の廃絶は暗礁に乗り上げている。

［篠原陽一］

『国連報告書、竹本正幸訳『便宜置籍船と多国籍企業』（1979・ミネルヴァ書房）』▽『篠原陽一編著『現代の海運』（1985・税務経理協会）』▽『水上千之著『船舶の国籍と便宜置籍』（1994・有信堂）』▽『武城正長編著『国際交通論』（1998・税務経理協会）』

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