The reflag merry-go-round is when shipping companies with a U.S. flag division takes a ship that has suffered poor or lack of maintenance and reflags it U.S. Once the U.S. crews get the ship back up to standards the company then re-flags it foreign.
From the engineers point of view it seems that the U.S. crew that worked to get the first ship back in shape then have to start over with another ship flagged in from foreign.
Heard lots of anecdotes about this , mostly from the engineers. Anyone have any experience with this?
Didnât you used to work on ships that was owned by âshipping companies with a U.S. flag divisionâ that took older RoRo/PCTCs from their foreign fleet and reflag them to US flag?
If so, you shouldnât need to ask others. What was your experience??
Isnât that the way MSP is supposed to work? I read in the AMO paper ARC just reflagged a few ships and flagged out the old ones. Rumor is a couple of them are going to MARAD? Not sure on the last.
Yes, thatâs the expected process which was what I was describing in the post you responded to.
The question in the OP is wrt the practice of flagging ships into U.S. flag and then relatively quickly out again. Far quicker than the normal practice.
Yes ARC/Wilhelmsen has just re-flagged the Tiger (Blt. 2011) and Tomar (Blt. 2008) to US-flag:
They have also sold two older vessels; M/V Freedom (ex.Takamine, blt 1997) and M/V Honour (ex.Takasago, blt. 1996) to MARAD:
So that proves what K.C. said about his former employer, but is there any facts to show that SOME greedy foreign shipowners are using hardworking US seafarers to âfix their rundown ships, then flag out againâ?
PS> Wouldnât it be cheaper to send the ships to a âhighly subsidizedâ shipyard where they could get repaired quicker.
PPS>Where the work is performed by unskilled forced labourers, without safety and environmental rules. (Which is what is holding back US shipyards from competing, according to popular belief. (Sarcasm)
You are entitled to your biased opinion bugge, but I have been part of several re-flags and each time it is quite clear that engineering repairs have been woefully lacking. Everything looks pretty and things are shoestringed together mechanically, but once we get into taking things apart and finding that the spare parts were all used and then re-wrapped in original packaging, we get the real story. Every time it is the same story.
Looks like a ship on the reflag merry-go-round would be flagged into U.S. and out again in about 3 years.
Donât know the reason why this is done but by all accounts getting the ship into satisfactory condition is a long-term project for the crew and is done while the ship remains in full operational status.
I found a a ship that has change back and forth to US flag a couple of times.
Whether the changes has been to take advantage of US crews to âfix 'er upâ, or due to market forces is of course not known.
She has been in the Hoegh fleet all the time, but under different names, flags and âbrandsâ.
Built in Korea as Alliance New York, intended for US flag, but probably never sailed under that name and flag.
Sailed as Prestige New York under US flag for 4 years.
Now registered in Norway (NIS), with home port Oslo.:
Why go through the reflagging process twice? If an owner feels their vessel is in need or repair just repair it? Changing flags feels like an unnecessary step and cost. The flag on the stern does not prevent a responsible owner from maintaining their vessels nor hiring a crew that will do so.
What difference does it make.? A job is a job is a job. Has any ever sailed on a ârust bucketâ that has been US flag its whole life? Instead of bitching about reflagging, you ought to be promoting reflagging. They are certainly not building new US flag (none coastwise) in the USA.
Obviously those greedy foreign Shipowners/Managers wants to take advantage of the superior skills and hard work performed by US crews.
Actually the ship management philosophy has changed from large crews performing repairs and maintenance while underway and in port, to small crews (barely) sufficient for operational requirements.
This is reflected in the Minimum Safe Manning requirement approved by the various Flag State Authorities (incl. USCG) and IMO.
There is nothing in the rule book saying you canât have a bigger crew on board to carry out repairs and maintenance, which is a quite common practice. (Usually âriding crewsâ for specific tasks)