Awareness of the Polish flag

Knowledge of the problems of maintaining ships under the Polish flag is not widespread. About half of Poles, regardless of age, place of residence and level of education, declare a lack of knowledge of the reasons for the lack of ships under the Polish flag. Nevertheless, the belief in the need, or even necessity, of having a fleet under one’s own flag is strong.

More than 80% of respondents say they would like Poland to have a fleet of commercial ships under its own flag, and only 2% do not share their opinion. When asked how important the fleet under the national flag is to respondents, almost 3/4 of the answers given were positive. Such are the conclusions of a survey conducted by the Social Research Laboratory in Sopot using the CAVI method on a representative group of Poles last May.

The survey was conducted on a representative group of 1001 respondents. According to the authors, it showed that Poles, regardless of their familiarity with Polish flag issues, are convinced of the need for a national fleet under their own flag. They realize the importance of the fleet at the disposal of the state – both for economic, social, safety and prestige reasons. This is the most important of the conclusions of the survey of Poles’ opinions on the need for and importance of ships under the Polish flag.

As the authors of the study point out in a study of its results, the Polish state does not have a maritime commercial fleet under the national flag. The lack of modern shipping and maritime labor regulations has made it economically unviable to operate ships under the national flag. As a result, Polish shipowners operate their ships under foreign (convenient) flags, and shipowners from other countries are not interested in registering ships under the Polish flag. The lack of a fleet under the Polish flag and seafarers’ social security regulations that are adapted to the international, shipping market, has its effects in the areas:

• economic – it causes measurable economic and financial losses to the economy due to the lack of fees and taxes flowing into the state budget,
• social – EU regulations impose an obligation to pay social security contributions for seafarers working on foreign-flagged ships, in their place of residence (high non-wage labor costs in Poland result in less interest in hiring Polish seafarers who are at risk of losing their jobs, and the effects of this process also negatively affect Polish maritime education – lack of jobs for graduates results in a shortage of candidates for maritime schools),
• energy and military security – in the event of an external threat, the Polish state does not have effective and efficient administrative and formal-legal control over foreign-flagged ships that supply coal, ore, oil and gas to Poland (as a result, the supply chains of energy source carriers are threatened, and in the event of an armed conflict, the use of ships – Polish shipowners operating under foreign flags – for military maritime transport may also be hampered).

Changes in legal regulations that would result in the return of ships to the Polish flag have been talked about for a long time. The changes would involve facilitating the registration of ships in Poland, introducing economic incentives for shipowners and reducing the cost of seafarers’ social insurance. Calculations made show that revenues from taxes and fees on ships registered in Poland would be higher than budget expenditures associated with the changes.

The respondents were given an overview of the situation of the Polish commercial fleet and briefly discussed the key causes and consequences of the lack of ships under the Polish flag.

To the question “In your opinion, should ship registration facilities and economic incentives be introduced to encourage Polish and foreign shipowners to register ships under the Polish flag?” more than 80% of responses were positive. It is noteworthy that an unnoticeable number of respondents were strongly opposed to the introduction of facilitations and economic incentives. Respondents understand the mechanism that has led to the lack of ships under the Polish flag and the need to create the right economic conditions to reverse this situation. They agree with the use of economic incentives and facilities, because they are convinced that the economic calculus should determine the choice of flag. At the same time, they are aware that the relevant economic and legislative environment will translate into the choice of the Polish flag.

Confirmation of this approach is provided by the answer to the test question “To what extent do you agree with the statement: no legal changes and economic incentives

will make the Polish flag competitive in the EU and global shipping market.” The majority of respondents disagree with this statement!

Respondents realized that the preparation of friendly conditions for the development of the fleet under the Polish flag would require the creation of special regulations for those involved in the operation of the fleet. Their answers show that they are able to accept solutions such as changes to the social insurance of Polish seafarers, tax reliefs and facilities, as long as it brings tangible benefits to the state.

Poles are aware of the role that their own fleet, under the national flag, plays in various areas related to maritime transport. This was confirmed with regard to two selected activities: maritime education and energy security. In both cases, respondents’ answers indicated that they were aware of the threats that the lack of ships under the national flag poses to the operation of maritime education in Poland, as well as to the country’s energy security.

According to PBS, summarizing the results of the survey, it should be said that Poles:

• would like our country to have a fleet of commercial ships under its own flag,
• understand the need to create favorable economic conditions to encourage ship registration in Poland and are convinced that this will help change the current state,
• are able to accept specific conditions under which the registration of ships under the Polish flag will be economically attractive to shipowners,
• consider ownership of the national fleet a matter of prestige and they would be proud of a fleet under the Polish flag,
• recognize the links between the national fleet and the functioning of other entities (e.g., maritime education, national energy security) and believe that: “Everything should be done to bring Poland back to the seas and oceans”!

Article developed with Namiary na Morze i Handel magazine

phot. Namiary na Morze i Handel magazine