Introduction: The crisis decades

摘要

There has evolved a pervasive form of competition in theinternational labour mar- ket which can drag down what were sociallyresponsible companies. Similarly, fund- ing bodies have can drag beenwilling to lend without adequate ship surveys or establishedcreditworthiness. The careful monitoring and the fidelity and ethics,which were once underpinning shipping have been eroded in the decadessince 1973. Many of these views are in fact reflected across theindustry. The financier Paul Slater referring to financial lossessaid at the Ship Finance Conference in 1996… 'Unfortunately somelong term debt roviders were recently persuaded to lend on overvaluedassets into an inherently unsound group of shipping companies whichresulted in the inevitable bankruptcy that has once again taintedshipping's reputation in the capital markets'.