Flag of convenience
![MOL Pride, owned and operated by the Japanese company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, flying the flag of Liberia.[1]](/Images/godic/202501/13/Liberian_flag_on_Mol_Pride0927.jpg")
![The sinking of Amoco Cadiz led to concerted ship inspections by port states.](/Images/godic/202501/13/Amoco_Cadiz_1_edit10927.jpg")
![The engineers of the Seamen's Act, from left to right, maritime labor leader Andrew Furuseth, Senator Robert La Follette, and muckraker Lincoln Steffens, circa 1915](/Images/godic/202501/13/Furuseth-La_Follette-Steffens-19150927.jpeg")
![Top 11 flags of convenience account for almost 55% of the entire world fleet.[28][29]](/Images/godic/202501/13/Top11FOCs20090928.png")
Flag of convenience is a business practice whereby a merchant ship is registered in a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies that country's civil ensign. Owners of a ship may register the ship under a flag of convenience to reduce operating costs or avoid the regulations of the owner's country. The closely related term open registry, which describes a ship register that will register foreign-owned ships.