The influence of qualitative factors in Isle of Man ship registration decisions

Open registers have developed in recent years as an economic necessity allowing costs to be cut in response to an over-tonnaged marketplace where low to nonexistent profit margins were the norm under the registers of the traditional maritime nations. These open registers allow shipowners the flexibility to reduce their operating costs by, for example, employing cheap foreign crews. The majority of studies in this area have concentrated, quite rightly, on the economic reasons why shipowners flag-out to registers other than their home register. There are, however, a number of more nebulous reasons why shipowners choose one open register as opposed to another. This paper presents the results of a survey which attempts to deduce these qualitative influences over register choice. The specific context of the Isle of Man register is used to illustrate the importance of such factors.