A shipowner, ship owner or ship-owner is the owner of a

ship A ship is a large watercraft, vessel that travels the world's oceans and other Waterway, navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally disti ...

. They can be

merchant vessel A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which a ...

s involved in the

shipping industry Maritime transport (or ocean transport) or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by watercraft has been widely used throughout recorded history, as it provi ...

or non commercially owned. In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and exploits a ship, usually for delivering

cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

at a certain

freight rate A freight rate (historically and in ship chartering simply freight) is a price at which a certain cargo is delivered from one point to another. The price depends on the form of the cargo, the mode of transport (truck, ship, train, aircraft), the ...

, either as a per freight rate (given price for the transport of a certain cargo between two given ports) or based on hire (a rate per day). Shipowners typically hire a licensed

crew A crew is a body or a group of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchy, hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the ta ...

and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

rather than take charge of the vessel in person. Usually the shipowner is organized through a

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

, but also people and

investment fund An investment fund is a way of investment, investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group such as reducing the risks of the investment by a significant percentage. These ad ...

s can be shipowners. If owned by a ship company, the shipowner usually performs

technical management In general, technical management is the systematic efforts used in the deployment of a system or process and in balancing its cost, effectiveness and supportability during its life cycle. Technical managers can be found at the interface of appli ...

of the vessel through the company, though this can also be outsourced or relayed onto the shipper through

bareboat charter A bareboat charter, or demise charter, is an arrangement for the chartering or hiring of a ship or boat for which no crew or provisions are included as part of the agreement. Instead, the renter of the vessel from the owner is responsible for ...

. Shipowners are usually members of a national Chamber of Shipping such as the

UK Chamber of Shipping The UK Chamber of Shipping is the trade association and lobbying organisation of the UK shipping industry, representing around 200 member companies. They work with government, parliament, international organisations and others in the maritime ind ...

. The

International Chamber of Shipping The International Chamber of Shipping is one of the world's principal shipping organisations, representing around 80% of the world's merchant tonnage through membership by national shipowners' associations. It is concerned with maritime regulatory ...

is the global organisation for ship-owners and their respective national chambers, representing approximately 80% of the entire world shipping

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on '' tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a cal ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Ship management fi:Varustamo