1. INTRODUCTION: SHIPPING AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Thousands of commercial vessels sail daily across the oceans, operated by companies incorporated in different jurisdictions, under charterparties and bills of lading imposing duties and liabilities on all parties concerned. These vessels are built by hundreds of shipbuilding facilities and have to comply with a multitude of international, regional and national regulations in order to call safely at a world-wide network of commercial ports. The shipping industry as a whole employs millions of people worldwide and feeds a great number of service providers and public servants. However, the purpose of the world’s commercial fleet, the main reason why vessels are built, registered, chartered and insured, is not maritime at all: vessels sail to carry goods bought on one market to be sold on another. The real purpose of the entire commercial shipping industry and its regulatory and contractual framework is to make international trade possible, safe and efficient.