Lifting of arrest of foreign ships in Italy

Abstract

The challenges that ship owners and the shipping industry are today called to meet are those one safety at sea, environmental issues and competition in freights. The two former aims are in some contradiction with the letter. Safety is given by new and/or well maintained tonnage while competition demands cut prices and lower costs and overheads. A solution can only be researched in good and stable financing programs. Financing might come out from the market but will continue to have its principal source in the banking system. A significant help to the institutional lessors and to the banks might come from a revised Arrest Convention able to strike a balance between the security requirements of the suppliers industry and those of the lessors and mortgagee banks.