There are some adverse effects in the development of an open international economy, which may be unforeseen, and which market forces and national governments alone cannot mitigate. Specifically, there are mismatches between regulations, which have to be enforced at national levels, and work and management practices within a global industrial environment. One such case is the loss of recognised accountability towards merchant ship multi-national crews, which are recruited internationally by offshore agencies and serve on open registry ships.
Merchant shipping has always of course been an international activity involving the carriage of goods bought and sold on the world markets.
The global commercial network was greatly facilitated in the 1860s by the development of the submarine telegraph system. At that time the shipping industry and world trade were controlled by only a few rich states. There were in these countries, and especially Britain, well established tramp and liner companies with ships flying their national flags and crewed mainly by nationals, plus some lower-level manning drawn from colonial territories.
At that time a tramp ship would have a crew of 40 or so. Many of these seamen would come not only from the same country but from the same town, or even village. They spoke the same language, had similar cultural backgrounds, education and training, and common preferences in food, recreation and working practices. Life was often hard on many ships, but seafarers knew who they were working for (sometimes even the face of the owner) and they had recourse to national legal systems directly and through their trade unions. Going to sea had then, for all its hazards, hardships, and the social deprivation of long absences from families, an appeal for young men (and a few women). Ashore there were frequently strong bonds between seafaring families and systems of mutual support in port towns and village communities.
Many of these features of shipping in the traditional maritime countries (TMCs) remained in place until the mid-20th century. The ships operated in an international economic context under national laws which were enforced by the flag states, and gave effect to a body of safety regulations which had emerged internationally since the late 19th century. This relative stability of the maritime world began to change after the mid-20th century and especially following the 1973 oil crisis. In the process a new economic environment emerged which had enormous consequences for the structure and regulation of merchant shipping and especially for those employed on ships.
The merchant ships of the late 19th and first half of the 20th century were generally owned, built, surveyed, insured and managed nationally. Their operations were regulated under flag state laws - many of which were aligned between the major maritime states, and 'self-regulated' by companies in the liner trades under conference agreements.