Module Directory

Maritime and Shipping Law can broadly be divided into `dry` and `wet` shipping. The former, deals with contractual and commercial matters. The latter, which is the focus of this module, deals with incidents on the high seas. As such, matters such as collisions and damage to the vessel and the environment are the main issues of this module.

We cover areas such as, collisions, salvage and liabilities of the vessel. In other words, this module looks at general maritime law issues as well as issues relating to the sea itself, rather than purely to the contractual relationships of shipping parties.

The aims of this module are:

• To familiarise students with different aspects of shipping operations, including ships’ ownership (finance, sale contract and shipbuilding contracts).


• To foster a deep understanding of the legal consequences of maritime casualties, defined as any ship related incident that may incur in liability to shipowners or/ and other ship industry stakeholders.


• To provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the commercial realities and operations that underpin shipping activities and how these are and ought to be balanced against growing demands for environmental protection.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the body of law governing the life cycle of a ship, including international conventions, supranational law, national law, and soft law.


2. Show a critical awareness of problems relating to the legal treatment of ships and their operation, and the ability to solve them.


3. Critically access and evaluate recent developments in the ship industry, engaging in current debates relating to developments in the shipping industry, mindful of prevalent commercial, public, and other interests.


4. Formulate well-reasoned academic arguments premised upon a sound understanding of the relevant legal principles.


5. Independently undertake research and investigate further topics in maritime law, mindful of a broader commercial and public context.

Due to the peculiarities of shipping and the maritime industry, ships have a unique status within the law. An example of this, is that ships can give rise to actions not only in personam but also in rem. However, the fact that ships are moving chattels, it is not often easy for creditors to successfully secure their claims. This could be easily perceived in 2017 when the Hajin, the 7th largest container line in the world at the time, opened insolvency proceeding in South Korea, and its vessels were literally everywhere around the world, still carrying cargo and fulfilling charterparties.

Furthermore, despite ships being constant subject of improvements (especially since an estimate of c.90% world trade is still being conducted by sea), maritime incidents happen in a regular basis, a few examples are the Costa Concordia (2012), the cruise ship that capsized in the coast of Italy and the Ever Given (2021) which due to strong winds ended up wedged across the waterway, closing the Suez Canal. When incidents like these occur, salvors are likely to have to intervene to save the stricken ship, cargo and crew in the speediest manner possible, raising the question of who is going to be bearing these costs since it is also beneficial to the port/ coastal state to have the ship quickly removed so business can be resumed.

This course covers different aspects of shipping operations, from the purchasing of a vessel to the rights and guarantees attached to it, covering ship arrest, collisions maritime pollution, maritime safety, limitation of liability and Salvage.

This module will be delivered via:

• Weekly 2-hour interactive lecture/ workshop.