1-169 A further key point contributed to the overall ethos of safety. and this was the relationship between the national flag state and the nationally. based shipping company. one benefit of this arrangement was that safety standard were well understood and levels of training were relatively high. A weakness was a reluctance of some national authorities to move in pace witn the changing technological and commercial pressures that contributed to the increase in flags of convenience and the proliferation of horizontally integrated shipping operations. The effects of this on the management and operations of ships is explored on the next few pages.