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Sezione l - Dottrina
Vernon's 1966 pioneering work. the shipping industry can be defined as
a sector whose technology is ripe; it has by now reached the final stage
in the !ife cycle of the activity: that which sees technology of a standardized
product being disseminated.
The flagging aut phenomenon - i.e. going from one's own flag to a flag
of convenience (9) - together with the process of traffic libera!isation; the
great cost differential in production inputs; and the establishment of a 10cal
shipping milieu (IO) - which these same open registries have particularIy
boosted - have led, over the long term, particularIy in Asia, to the
formation of a pool of extremely qualified marine staff (both officers and
ratings) as well as of skilled office staff and capitaI, ali contributing crucially
to promoting the local industry. It is precisely this cross-border connotation
that shipping has taken on over these years which has laid the
foundations of the maritime sector becoming a global industry. Figure l
shows the main elements which have contributed the most to develop the
increasingly international character of the maritime transpor! industry.
Relevant
production cost
differentials
Traffie
A vailability or a wide
network or services and
or a pool or skilled
labour in third countries
1: the main characteristìcs of the maritime industry
(9) The flag of the nation with an open register.
High mobility
or capitai
Ease of
delocalisation
(10) The IoeaI milieu - as Maillat et al. write (1991) - is a proeess of "realization,
Iearning and continuous action involving the produetive apparatus, the culture and
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