Landlocked Switzerland is the fourth largest shipping location in Europe and is therefore heavily involved in global shipping, especially through ships controlled by local commodity traders. Switzerland also plays a significant role as the flag state for river cruises. In an interview, corruption expert and author Mark Pieth provides answers about the current challenges facing Swiss maritime power.
SRF News: Why is Switzerland considered a maritime power?
Mark Pieth: Only a few ocean-going ships sail under the Swiss flag, that’s pretty well known. We currently have 17 ships after the financial crisis. There is less public awareness that Switzerland is a major shipping company – depending on how you count, we have 1,000 or 2,500 ships that are managed from Switzerland. Most of the ships that are moved from Switzerland sail under flags such as Panama or Liberia. They cost little and control is lax.
What problems does the shipping company bring with it?
Shipping is risky: a large cargo ship sinks every week. In addition, it is important to do more against the notorious lack of transparency in the industry, against environmental pollution and against appalling working conditions at sea. The environment is of course a particularly big problem.
Official Switzerland does not take note of the extent to which we share responsibility.
We are certainly not the only ones, but we are partly responsible for all these problems. I don’t think official Switzerland takes note of the extent to which this is the case.
What should Switzerland do about it?
Switzerland sits on all sorts of bodies – for example the IMO, the International Maritime Organization, or the UN, which deals with environmental issues, among other things. Today, the flags of convenience, such as Panama, set the tone in these bodies. They represent the interests of the really big shipping companies, not necessarily the interests of the environment. For example, Switzerland could ensure that we become climate-neutral by 2050. We pretend we only have 17 ships, not 2000 – we’re hiding a bit.
The Federal Council commissioned the FDFA to draw up a maritime strategy. What do you make of it?
I think it’s good that we’re doing this at all. Until now, the perception was Lake Lucerne and steamships. One of the big questions will be whether or not we should keep our own flag. It was set up during World War II for the national supply. And in recent years, Switzerland has fallen flat on its face, you had to make emergency sales and draw federal guarantees.
Now the question arises: Do we still need this flag? I think the guarantees have to be dropped. But we could be attractive with our flag if we have a serious and clean flag, for example by guaranteeing minimum standards in working conditions.
So should Switzerland expand its flag?
That makes sense, but it could be difficult – the competition is of course fierce: flags of convenience where no taxes are paid, where, for example, labor law is not looked at very closely. Switzerland would have to link up at these points and turn against it. The Swiss flag could be made more attractive by being cleaner in terms of labor law and the environment. At the moment it’s still mostly junk boats – we need to go in a direction where ships don’t break easily.