Regulation and age discrimination in the dry-bulk cargo trades

One of the responses to more favourable dry-bulk cargo market conditions has been the extension of the commercial life of Capesize vessels. It is argued here that in assessing the seaworthiness of such vessels the cardinal factor is age. Regulations have been instituted in an attempt to ensure those vessels deemed to be unsafe are denied the opportunity to trade. The central premise of this discussion is of the uneven manner, internationally, in which these regulations have been and are enforced. The proof of this lies, as the analysis highlights, in the recent greater concentration of comparatively modern tonnage in certain regional trades as against the congregating of ageing tonnage in others.