Do Easy Flag Vessels Generally Have a Greater Risk Rate than That of Other Flagged Vessels - Research Paper Example

Introduction

This chapter considered the raw data and tabulated in in MS Excel for visual representation of participants strongly supporting the question views and those with other views such as strong opposition. The sample size was 19 and the questions were 22. Participants were engaged in answering a closed-ended questionnaire with coded responses. The codes 5 to 1 indicates strong agreement and strong opposition respectively.

Graph 1

Views on the question that PSC (Port State Control) inspection regimes, a target inspection rate should be established indicated that the portion of the sample strongly agreeing is 7 of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 6 against 3 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing participants make 3 of the sample for disagreeing and none for strongly disagreeing. Therefore, the feedback on this question indicates that a target inspection rate should be established since it carries the majority view.

Graph 2

Views on the question that “targeted inspection rates for ports can be achieved with an adequate number of qualified and experienced PSCO” indicated that the portion of the sample strongly agreeing is 6 of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 8 against 5 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing had no participants. Thus, the feedback on this question indicates that “targeted inspection rates for ports can be achieved with an adequate number of qualified and experienced PSCO” is a popular view since it carries the majority affirmative responses.

Graph 3

Views on the question on whether “outcomes of inspections by PSCOs are reliable" indicated that the portion of the sample strongly agreeing is _3of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 5 against 7 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing participants make 2 of the sample for agreeing and 1 for strongly disagreeing. Thus, the feedback on this question indicates that “outcomes of inspections by PSCOs are reliable” and therefore is relative satisfaction with the current inspection strategies.

Graph 4

Views on whether “easy flag (flag of convenience) vessels generally have a greater risk rate than that of other flagged vessels” indicated that the portion of the sample strongly agreeing is 13 of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 6 against none for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing views on this question did not have any support. Thus, the feedback on this question indicates that majority of the participants support the view that “easy flag (flag of convenience) vessels generally have a greater risks compared to ordinary vessels.

Graph 5

Views regarding whether “frequent inspections of vessels through PSC improved ship standards” indicated that the portion of the sample strongly agreeing is 13 of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 4 against none for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing views got no support from the participants concluding that frequent inspections of vessels through PSC is one way of improving ship standards.

Graph 6

Assessing whether “classification societies should have an increased role in ensuring shipping standards for the purpose of PSC”, results indicated that the portion of the sample strongly agreeing is 9 of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 6 against 4 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing views had not support from the sample. The result here indicates that a majority of the participants have a strong believed that if classification societies had an increased role in ensuring shipping standards for the purpose of PSC, the approach would be beneficial.

Graph 7

Investigation on whether “inspections of low risk vessels owned by reputable companies was a waste of time and money” showed that the portion of the sample strongly agreeing is none of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 5 against none for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing participants make a majority of 9 and 5 respectively. Thus, the feedback on this study question indicates that inspections of low risk vessels owned by reputable companies is not a waste of time and money.

Graph 8

The graph 8 above represents the views on whether “certain countries and certain ports are stricter than other ports in same MoU’s” and shows that the portion of the sample strongly agreeing is 5 of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 6 against 6 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing participants make 2 of the sample for disagreeing and none for strongly disagreeing. Thus, the feedback indicates that some support, but not entirely reliable, is present regarding the views on whether certain countries and certain ports are stricter than other ports in same MoU’s.

Graph 9

Views on whether “the strictness of PSC enforcement in a port could influence the decision for vessels to use that port” indicated that the portion of the sample strongly agreeing is none of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 5 against 7 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing participants make 5 of the sample for disagreeing and 2 for strongly disagreeing. The mixed feedback however, shows that more investigation should be carried out to determine whether strictness plays a role.

Graph 10

Views on whether “some ports used PSC as a tool to enhance their competitive advantage” indicated that the portion of the sample strongly agreeing was 3 of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 6 against 4 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing participants make 4 of the sample for disagreeing and 2 for strongly disagreeing. Thus, the feedback on this question indicates that is considerable that some ports may be using PSC as a tool to enhance their competitive advantage.

Graph 11

Investigating whether “political disagreements between states impact on effective PSC” found out that the portion of the sample strongly agreeing is 5 of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 6 against 4 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing participants make 2 of the sample for disagreeing and 2 for strongly disagreeing. The negative views in this case tend to hold little to no significant grounds and therefore do not deny that “political disagreements between states impact on effective PSC”.

Graph 12

Studying whether “distinction between vessel type was an effective parameter for assessing risk’ returned that the portion of the sample strongly agreeing is 5 of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 8 against 6 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing views did not get support. Thus, the feedback on this question indicates that distinction between vessel type is relatively effective parameter for assessing risk since a significant portion of the sample did not appear sure.

Graph 13

The perspectives on whether the “level of quayside activity influenced the extent of PSC vessel inspection” showed that the portion of the sample strongly agreeing is 2 of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 10 against 2 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing participants make 5 of the sample for disagreeing and none for strongly disagreeing. Therefore, it is conclusive that although the level of quayside activity was considered to have some influence on the extent of PSC vessel inspection, it is not a primary requirement as such.

Graph 14

Views on the question whether “white, grey and black list of flag States was a fair mechanism for distinguishing between vessels of varying risk” showed that the participant strongly agreeing was 6 of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 8 against 4 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing participants make 1 of the sample for disagreeing and none for strongly disagreeing. Thus, the feedback on this question indicates that the color codes indicate varying risks.

Graph 15

Investigating whether “equal income is to be derived from using two ports my company would choose the port with less strict PSC” found out that those strongly agreeing were 10 of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 2 against 2 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing participants make 5 of the sample for agreeing and none for strongly disagreeing. Therefore it is found out that most people would consider choosing the ports that were less strict to increase their income.

Graph 16

Investigating on whether participants’ “companies’ vessels had experienced unfair PSC detention” found that none of the 19 respondents strongly agreed with this view. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 3 against 4 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing participants make 6 of the sample for disagreeing and 3 for strongly disagreeing. This results show that there is strong evidence that participants viewed detention as unfair in most cases.

Graph 17

Investigating on whether participants” shipping companies tended to check a port’s detention rates before sending vessels to that port” found that 4 of the 19 respondents strongly agreed with this view. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 2 against 5 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing participants make 3 of the sample for disagreeing and 5 for strongly disagreeing. This results show that there is mixed views regarding whether the shipping companies avoided inspection deliberately.

Graph 18

Question 18 aimed at studying whether participants were “aware of the methods used to calculate a shipping company’s PSC performance”. Results indicate that 4 of the 19 respondents strongly agreed. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 2 against 12 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing views did not achieve any support. The high number of uncertain responses indicates that the participants lacked sufficient knowledge on the performance measures.

Investigating whether “the period granted for vessel improvement could be extended beyond the next port of call depending on the type of deficiency” showed the portion of the sample strongly agreeing was 5 of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 14 and no other views were given beyond these. This feedback indicates that the sample unanimously agreed that the period granted for vessel improvement could be extended beyond the next port of call depending on the type of deficiency.

Graph 20

Views on whether “it was fair that the UK’s target rate is 5% higher than that of the Paris MoU” realized that the portion of the sample strongly agreeing was 4of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 3 against 9 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing participants make 3 of the sample for disagreeing and 0 for strongly disagreeing. The feedback shows that majority of the views are not certain but a considerable potion seems to have affirmative bias towards the view.

Graph 21

Views on the question regarding whether “detention rates by PSCOs with an engineering background are higher than PSCOs with a nautical background” found out that portion of the sample strongly agreeing was 0 (zero). On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 2 against 3 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing participants make 2 of the sample for disagreeing and 2 for strongly disagreeing. These views show that Detention rates by PSCOs with an engineering background were not higher than PSCOs with a nautical background.

Graph 22

Views on whether “there should be better harmonisation of inspections across countries of the Paris MoU” observed that the portion of the sample strongly agreeing is 4 of the 19 respondents. On the other hand, agreeing views had a count of 12 against 3 for those considering themselves uncertain. Disagreeing and strongly disagreeing views failed to stand a chance in this question. Hence it seen that a large portion supports the notion that here should be better harmonisation of inspections across countries of the Paris MoU.

Summary

The results indicate that considerable and significant number of the sample members identify with the benefits of PSC and MoUs. Therefore, the study observed a welcoming attitude to ports reforms. Additionally, the views also show that improvement in some areas is a desired wish for more participants.