THE MERCHANT NAVY

The maritime nations, throughout the history, have always been defined by their navy and merchant fleets. The navy fleet would normally be considered as consisting of the armed vessels while the merchant fleet would normally be made up by the ships transporting cargo. The so-called mercantile marine is commonly referred to as merchant fleet in UK. They normally carry the maritime ensign of the country where the particular vessel has been registered.

Nowadays, the British fleet of merchant vessels includes those owned by the citizens of Great Britain and also the vessels placed by the ship owners under the British regulatory framework in accordance with the provisions of the Tonnage Tax regime. As a result, they are entitled to carry the Great Britain ensign and to receive the tax breaks.

It should be noted that the ship registry of the Great Britain implies that the owners of the vessels should sign-up o the particular practices ranging from the shipboard safety and technical maintenance standards to the environment protection via implementation of the applicable regulations on board. The quality assurance will allow the ship owners to be “white listed” and this will make their ships much more attractive to the clients in need of the safe and efficient transportation of their goods.