The diploma dissertation discusses the relationship between maritime transport, the environment and the shipping company. A shipping company is a natural or legal person who supplies services of maritime transport using own or rented ships. Their main asset used to carry out transport is a ship. When in exploatation, the ship moves through two mediums: water and air, that form the maritime environment. Compared to rail, air and road transport, maritime transport is the most environment-friendly form of transport of large quantities of cargo. The increase in maritime transport and the related increase in pollution from ships are the key factors for the emergence of the current tendency of adopting more stringent regulation and implementing measures for integrated reduction of environmental pollution.
The primary aim of the dissertation is to present the effects of the implementation of measures for the reduction of pollution from ships on the shipping company. For the purpose of understanding these effects, the environmental areas impacted by maritime transport are described, as well as international conventions and regulations that stipulate environmental requirements and existing measures for reducing pollution in the mentioned environmental areas.
The adoption of individual measures brings about reduction of environmental pollution from ships as well as cleaner environment. For the shipping company, however, it entails additional costs. Increased costs originate from high capital investments required by particular measures, such as extra equipment, engine modifications and fitting of systems. On the other hand, several measures generate different amounts of operational costs and travel costs of shipping company. Measures for reducing fuel consumption, especially ˝slow steaming˝, even reduce costs of the shipping company, since the expense of fuel decreases.
The dissertation briefly presents the legislative framework on which the discussed measures are based. According to the effect (or cost) of measures, the shipping company selects the most appropriate ones to coordinate operation with the required regulations.
The message of the dissertation is: By adopting reductive measures for environmental pollution from ships, shipping company at the very least suffer increase in capital costs!
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