Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Policies To Promote Shipping Registration In Singapore, Sock Yong Phang, Rex S. Toh

Research Collection School Of Economics

An analysis traces the development of ship registration in Singapore and examines the underlying motivation behind changes in policies over the last 3 decades. For the better part of the 1970s Singapore was classified as a flag of convenience (FOC) country as it pursued an FOC policy that emphasized the quantitative growth of its merchant fleet. Beginning in 1979 Singapore tightened maritime standards as well as ownership disclosure rules, requiring a foreign shipowner to incorporate a company in Singapore. It is regarded today as a quasi-FOC country - a term associated favorably with countries offering tax incentives to shipowners. The …