Shipping is a very open business at one level, being built on global networks of personal communications. And yet, at the same time, it is a notoriously opaque industry when it comes to ultimate beneficial ownership.
Shipping, is in fact, a powerfully creative force for anonymity. This is reflected in all kinds of traditional business practices and language.
There is the use of special-purpose vehicle, or SPV, companies to create legally separate persons to own and manage the same ships, even when the actual owner and manager reside in...
