Also, there are some countries in the world which have ship
regulations which are particularly favorable for the ship
owner/operator. This is in an effort to make money from ships
registered there. The principal such countries are Bahamas, Liberia,
and Panama.

This is somewhat similar to many US companies registering in the state
of Delaware regardless of where they actually do most of their
business. Delaware has laws which are more favorable for companies
than many other US states.

See: http://www.cruisejunkie.com/ot.html

The following blurb is taken from this site.

The obvious question is how such working conditions are allowed in an
industry that operates largely from U.S. and Canadian ports. The
answer is simple. Though many cruise-line companies are headquartered
in the United States, they are registered in another country, they
operate ships registered in other countries (sailing under foreign
=93flags of convenience=94), and the ships sail in international waters.
Sixty per cent of cruise ships are registered in either the Bahamas,
Panama or Liberia.

By registering their ships in these countries, companies successfully
avoid having to pay income taxes, and they also avoid having to abide
by national labour laws =96 including health-and-safety legislation =96
and environmental regulations. They also avoid unions this way. The
regulations that a ship must follow are those of the country where the
ship is registered, and whose flag it flies..

Flags of convenience are clearly an economic benefit to a cruise line.
They are also a benefit to the flag state. In 1995, Panama earned
$47.5 million in ship-registration fees and annual taxes (five per
cent of its federal budget), and another $50 million for maritime
lawyers, agents and inspectors.


Sean


On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 9:49 PM, M.L. <m@lkeng.net> wrote:
> On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 4:53 PM, BOB <BOBSCNC@charter.net> wrote:
>
>>>
>> AHH the cruise ship industry business. =A0Another one that moves out of
>> the US.
>>
>> Bob
>
> Were the collective "they" ever in the US? Out of all industries, I
> can see why the cruise ships that only pick up and drop off in the US
> would be based somewhere less expensive.
>
>
> --
> Martin K.
>
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