11 Dealing with insurance claims is an important operational concern.Often cases of dispute arise and legal action is necessary.Usually matters are settled out of court and skillful analyses are required to decide on what amount to settle on and when to press for a court decision. Proper accounting must be done to deal with the type of insurance carried.Including losses up to perhaps the deductible might be a sound policy when preparing a budget estimate. From the insurer's point of view interesting questions arise as to the determination of the profitability of investing in underwriting:Some typical questions concern the participation or not in a specific underwriting syndicate,and of course the relevant cash management questions.These topics have been widely analyzed in the insurance literature. 2.6 SHIPYARDS A detailed analysis of desisions facing a shipyard is beyond the scope of this report. However,since shipping and shipbuilding are so interrelated,we give a flavor of these decisions. Shipyard decisions fall into two main categories:decisions related to the competitive strategy of the yard vis-a-vis others,and decisions related to yard management and operation. The first category of decisions attempts to answer the following types of questions:what types of vessels should the yard produce?are the designs for these ships developed in-house,or imported?should the yard have also a ship repair facility?what marketing strategy should be used to attract customers?what financing packages should be offered?and so on.Among the above decisions the question on whether to concentrate on repair or in newbuildings is of prime importance among Greek yards. Once the above questions have been answered,issues to be resolved center on yard design and layout,inventory control,production scheduling,parts and supplies logistics,robots and other technologies,and so on. It is clear that the two categories of decisions are nterrelated,for the yard cannot formulate a coherent strategy f decisions on yard operation are left open. 2.7 THE SHIPPING SECTOR IN THE GREEK ECONOMY The shipping sector has always been one of the most important pillars of the economic activity in Greece.Periods in which shipping industry was thriving were considered as golden years for the economy as a whole.Whenever the former was in decline,recession was inescapable in the latter as well.Three areas are more prominently affected by the shipping industry with repercussions felt widely in the economy: (i)The labour market The shipping sector absorbed large numbers of unskilled and skilled labour force,thus easing the threat of unemployment in other sectors of the economy.Pressure started to be understood in the national labour market,whenever shipping activity was shrinking or deregulation in the international shipping labour market allowed recruitement of low-waged foreign workers in the fleet under Greek flag.11 Dealing with insurance claims is an important operational concern. Often cases of dispute arise and legal action is necessary. Usually matters are settled out of court and skillful analyses are required to decide on what amount to settle on and when to press for a court decision. Proper accounting must be done to deal with the type of insurance carried. Including losses up to perhaps the deductible might be a sound policy when preparing a budget estimate . From the insurer's point of view interesting questions arise as to the determination of the profitability of investing in underwriting: Some typical questions concern the participation or not in a specific underwriting syndicate, and of course the relevant cash management questions. These topics have been widely analyzed in the insurance literature. 2. 6 SHIPYARDS A detailed analysis of desisions facing a shipyard is beyond the scope of this report. However, since shipping and shipbuilding are so interrelated, we give a flavor of these decisions. Shipyard decisions fall into two main categories: decisions related to the competitive strategy of the yard vis-a-vis others, and decisions related to yard management and operation. The first category of decisions attempts to answer the following types of questions: what types of vessels should the yard produce? are the designs for these ships developed in-house, or imported? should the yard have also a ship repair facility? what marketing strategy should be used to attract customers? what financing packages should be offered? and so on. Among the above decisions the question on whether to concentrate on repair or in newbuildings is of prime importance among Greek yards. Once the above questions have been answered, issues to be resolved center on yard design and layout, inventory control, production scheduling, parts and supplies logistics, robots and other technologies, and so on. It is clear that the two categories of decisions are nterrelated, for the yard cannot formulate a coherent strategy f decisions on yard operation are left open. 2. 7 THE SHIPPING SECTOR IN THE GREEK ECONOMY The shipping sector has always been one of the most important pillars of the economic activity in Greece. Periods in which shipping industry was thriving were considered as golden years for the economy as a whole. Whenever the former was in decline, recession was inescapable in the latter as well. Three areas are more prominently affected by the shipping industry with repercussions felt widely in the economy: (i) The labour market : The shipping sector absorbed large numbers of unskilled and skilled labour force, thus easing the threat of unemployment in other sectors of the economy. Pressure started to be understood in the national labour market, whenever shipping activity was shrinking or deregulation in the international shipping labour market allowed recruitement of low-waged foreign workers in the fleet under Greek flag