What are the practical implications for the flag of a ship?
International ships are often registered in a country quite far from the ships physical location. For example, this ship is registered in Liberia. Wikipedia describes the practice at its flag of convenience page.
From a travellers' point of view, should I care where the ship is registered? What are the practical implications of the ships flag?
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What is the significance of a ships flag?
The flag of the ship represents the nationality of the ship, i.e. the ship is under the control of the registered country. Based on the ship's flag, the ship must comply with international and maritime law of the registered country in the open sea and It can be used in a variety of ocean conflicts.What is the purpose of flag of convenience?
Flag of convenience (FOC) is a business practice whereby a ship's owners register a merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ensign of that country, called the flag state.What is the benefit of a cruise ship sailing under a flag of convenience?
The flag of convenience helps ship owners to evade their home nation's "inconvenient" rules/regulations, and often for reasons that are not so good. The negative impact is solely on the crew/staff who works on such ships. Lower standards of working conditions due to lesser regulations.International maritime signal flags and their meaning | nautical alphabet flags | maritime flags
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