편의치적선 안전확보를 위한 국제법적 규제

Abstract

Historically, "FOC(flags of convenience, hereinafter refer to FOC)" has originated since World War I, and especially the Second World War and while its definition is still lacking, "FOC" generally refers to the practice of registering and operating merchant vessels by nationals other than by the registering country. The importance of "FOC" may be seen by the percentage of world shipping which reached 52.1% in 2008, compared with 12.4% in 1960.

The reasons behind the "FOC" has been primarily the desire of the owners of the vessel to avoid heavy taxation and inconvenient, stringent, or demanding government rules and regulations such as those pertaining to labor and safety questions, their own countries. Liberia and Panama are the most popular "FOC" countries and, besides these, such countries as Cyprus, Malta, Hong Kong, Bermuda, Bahamas, Singapore can be listed in that category.

By the way, it is clear that most FOC states, if not all, do not enforce the major international safety conventions - SOLAS, LL, MARPOL, STCW etc. - and that many vessels under FOC states are substandard and hazardous. For the past thirty years, many of the ships registered in FOC have been involved in the major maritime incidents. The reasons for these incidents are violations of the safety regulations and cheap, untrained crews.

The flag state is primarily responsible for implementing IMO conventions and national laws and other standards as far as its own vessels are concerned. However, the most FOC states have lax enforcement rules and regulations to control vessels under their flags. Therefore, the international community attempted to define and regulate the "Genuine Link" between a vessel and its flag state through the incorporation of the Article relating to the definition of "Genuine Link" on the 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas, 1982 UNCLOS(United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and 1986 UNCCRS(United Nations Convention on Condition for Registration of Ships). The IMO has spared no effort to enhance the safety of vessels and protect the marine environment through the adoption of the major international conventions and introduction of the Port State Control etc. Moreover, the Port States and Coastal States have exercised jurisdiction in their territorial seas and internal waters over vessels violating international accepted rules and regulations.

By the way, there are no effective and substantial measures in substantial to control the substandard FOC vessels in order to enhance the safety of ships and protect the marine environment. Therefore, this paper aims at studying effective measures to ensure the safety of FOC vessels after identifying and analyzing the concepts of FOC vessels in international law, Flag State jurisdiction, Coastal State jurisdiction and Port State jurisdiction.