Author: Bao, Lingyan Stella
Title: Culture effects on vessel detention
Degree: M.Sc.
Year: 2010
Subject: Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations
Ships -- Nationality
Shipping -- Security measures
Merchant marine -- Security measures
Department: Graduate School of Business
Pages: ix, 65 leaves : ill. ; 31 cm.
Language: English
Abstract: This study is the first try to apply the culture theory into the shipping industry and analyze the culture effects on vessel detention. All ships have their own nationality but the flag control is manageably sophisticated. Substandard ships are aware of high risks, and quality control of ships is critical to the maritime safety and security. It has been proved that the detention rate depends on the flag of registry together with ship age, inspecting authority, type of ship, and recognized organization influencing. Previous research has only focused on the performance of individual flag of registry in terms of casualty and detention rate. This study considers the collective characteristics of flags according to culture effects and their influences on ship quality. Based on Hofstede's five-dimension culture theory, we map the Flag States on culture dimensions. From 12,635 detention records of the Tokyo MoU region from 2000 to 2009, we determine the effect of culture dimensions against the vessel detention. The findings can be summarized in two aspects. First, the power distance index has little influences on the detention rate. Second, more importantly, the individualism, uncertainty avoidance index and long-term orientation have strong impacts on the detention frequency. Our findings show that culture indeed has an effect on the vessel detention taken by different Port State Controls. A further look on the flag of registry is that the performance of individual flags may be better illustrated if individual flags are classified according to culture dimensions.
Rights: All rights reserved
Access: restricted access

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