Why are almost all international cargo ships Panamanian?

First of all, there is only 27.3% tariff for building and buying ships abroad, while ships flying the Panamanian flag are duty-free, which makes Panamanian nationality more attractive.

The origin of Panama registration;

Panama is a country with a population of 2.7 million and only over 70,000 square kilometers. By registering the "second ship" and "offshore company", the business gradually prospered. 1949, Cologne, the second free trade zone in the world, was born here.

At present, 20% of international shipping vessels fly the Panamanian flag. Panama has more than 9,000 registered ships, with more than 90 million tons. Cosco China is one of the three largest fleets flying Panamanian flag in the world.

The history of Panama's ship registration began during the First World War. In order to eliminate the influence of war on navigation, the United States and Panama negotiated to allow ships from all over the world to register a second ship in Panama, fly the Panamanian flag and sail in the oceans of all countries in the world.

Because there is only a 27.3% tariff on the construction and purchase of ships abroad, while ships flying the Panamanian flag can be exempted from tax, which makes Panamanian nationality more attractive.

1925, Panama established a commercial ship registration system through Decree No.8. Later, businessmen from all over the world found that the registration time in Panama was short, the procedures were simple, and ocean navigation was very convenient, which formed the trend of Panamanian ship registration.

Shanghai is building Yangshan Port, and plans to build 54 docks, 9 of which are already under construction, and more than 40 docks welcome foreign investment. Yangshan Port is also striving to become a free port and set up a base for registering a second ship.

I didn't know until I searched online.

Moreover, the length and width of these freighters are designed according to the maximum value of the locks of the Panama Canal, so that they can load as many goods as possible while passing through the locks of the Panama Canal smoothly, so they are called "Panama" class.

First, it is the management of registration fees and payment, and taxes and fees are relatively cheap. That's all that matters.

Second, trade unions in developed countries are too strong. For example, a ship of this nationality must use its own crew, whose salary is too high and the welfare required is close to Kirk's. In order to reduce costs and improve competitiveness, many companies are registered abroad.

The second point mentioned above has no basis.

These countries, also known as flag of convenience countries, are all small countries, such as Liberia and Cyprus.

Flag of convenience, the national flag of a merchant ship of one country, is hung after being registered in another country to indicate the registered place of the ship.

Ships flying flags of convenience shall be under the jurisdiction and protection of the flag state. After World War II, it was quite popular on international ships. There are different reasons. The main reason is that shipowners want to hide their ownership, or deliberately avoid taxes and save costs (reducing ship registration fees and crew wages).