班轮公会

班轮公会是航运业中的一种與遠洋定期船有關的协议。两家或多家船运公司之间會达成此種协议，大家商定在特定海上航線上按照统一费率和共同約定的条款向客戶提供货運服務Lecture notes: The Liner Conference is an organisation whereby a number of shipowners offer their services on a given sea route on conditions agreed by the members. Conferences are oligopolistic* associations of shipping lines formed for the purpose of restricting competition between members and protecting them from outside competition. They achieve their object
by controlling prices and limiting entry into the trade. The most important method employed to this aim is to establish a common tariff of freight rates and passenger fares. By limiting sailings and ports of call and by offering incentives (deferred rebate system and contract system) to loyal shippers, they provide a regularity of service to exporters that may not exist otherwise. Often when conferences perform special services, such as lifting unprofitable cargo or resorting to
chartering to cover temporary shortages of tonnage, they pool the losses or profit on such operations.
A shipping company usually belongs to several conferences. Members are left free to compete for traffic by the quality and efficiency of their service. Membership is international by character. Shippers frequently associate themselves into Councils to negotiate with Conferences on a footing of equal strength, as a countervailing power.。尽管船運公司可以通過班轮公会聯合起來共同运营海上航線，但这种协议可能涉及垄断和违反競爭法。

参考文献

Category:海运
Category:海事法