ARE WE HUNG UP ON THE FLAG?

摘要

A fixation on the Australian flag could be holding Australian coastal shipping back, says a maritime lawyer.The Company of Master Mariners of Australia member and former seafarer Captain John Kavanagh challenged the audience at the 2015 Master Mariners Congress in Launceston to question why the Australian flag meant so much and how it was helping - or hindering - the industry."We really have a fixation on flag. We're blinkered on examining flag rather than looking at developing a vibrant coastal shipping industry," he said. "We're spending far too much time arguing about who the enemy is. Is it a shrinking fleet, international shippers, shipping licenses? We have to understand what the problem is."