Application of fuzzy extended AHP methodology on shipping registry selection: The case of Turkish maritime industry

Selection of the suitable shipping registry alternative for the existing fleet or new building ships is one of the critical decision milestones of the shipping business. The main aim of this paper is to structure a practical decision support mechanism on ensuring multiple criteria analysis of shipping registry selection. Fuzzy AHP methodology, based on Chang's extent analysis, is determined to be utilized in order to model the shipping registry selection. After structuring the fundamental hierarchy, the model is performed with a case application on Turkish maritime industry to be able to obtain illustrative results. The shipping registries of Turkiye, Panama, and Malta are determined to evaluate as the potential alternatives for Turkish ship owners. When the literature was examined for the applications of analytical methodologies on maritime business, it was seemed that they were so rare. Therefore, the originality of this study appears on modeling of the critical process under multidisciplinary philosophy in ship management.