What Is A Register Of Ships?


by grundlew - Date: 2010-05-19 - Word Count: 532 Share This!

The chances are that if a merchant vessel or its cargo is worth anything, then its listed on a register of ships.

These lists provide an idea of the condition and classifications of merchant vessels, giving some idea on their safety, reliability, their purpose and so forth. They're far from a recent invention, though modern registers also carry details like environmental impact or if the ships have radar or GPS installed. Instead they've been in existence since the 18th century, when maritime trade first linked the various nations of the world and their overseas interests.

To the outsider their purpose might seem a little abstract - why would a list of different ships be that useful? However, they have proved extremely useful for both the merchants of the past and the traders of the present. To understand why, a little context is needed.

Given the nature of maritime transport and the inherent risks (obviously much greater in the past) of transporting large amounts of valuable cargo over the sea - where salvage is difficult if not impossible - there has always been something of a gamble about seaborne trade. Long ago in the second half of the 18th century, this prompted the merchants, shipowners and captains of trade to make deals with each other to offset the risk - pledging to help their fellows recoup losses if the ship didn't make it, in return for a share of the profits if it did.

This process became known as underwriting and though the practice has become a matter of international trade and administration, it continues to this day. Nowadays of course, its less of a deal between individuals and more a form of insurance provided by a big financial services company. This kind of arrangement has spread to mortgages, health care and many other areas of society but it had its home on the open sea.

Anyway, these maritime underwriters were the first to create a register of ships - the first to found a classification society. Like all who would follow in their wake, the society would publish an annual register that detailed the condition of the ship's hull and the state of its equipment. Originally this was done annually and ships were given different grades for the state of their hulls.

This system spread across the world, even becoming a vital part of the construction process. Bureaucracies of surveyors and inspectors were put into place and the old system of simply judging risk changed to one where vessels were either rated as 'fit to sail' or not and their purpose became as important as their seaworthiness. Nowadays these societies employ surveyors and engineers to look over ships, submarines, even nautical structures such as oil rigs at regular intervals and with random checks on occasion.

These regular checks help financial services providers judge whether or not to underwrite a voyage, a vessel or its goods without the need to physically inspect it themselves. They help promote compliance to better standards in the shipping industry and though they are non-governmental organisations and take no liability for the seaworthiness or purpose of a ship, they form an important cornerstone of globalised trade - providing reliable information that is regularly updated.

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