Introduction
More than forty thousand merchant ships, and countless number of smaller coastal craft, ply world oceans which comprise nearly seventy percent of the earth’s surface. Each year approximately ten million containers of cargo, containing raw materials to finished goods are transported by seas. The ships are owned by different states, private companies or individuals and manned by mixture of seafarers from different countries, mixed together from various nationalities. These ships are perhaps the most autonomous entities on earth as rule of law allows frequent change of their allegiance or identity by choosing a flag to suit their requirement.
Although merchant ships spend most of their lifetime outside the territorial waters, the current international maritime legal regime is ironically revolved around nationality of the vessel. Every vessel engaged in international trade must register in a country and is subjected to the regulatory control of that country whose flag it flies as per the existing international maritime law. Resultantly, any country has the right to allow a vessel to fly its national flag and to therefore bestow its nationality upon that vessel. When a vessel owner registers a vessel with a nation, the owner agrees to abide by that nation’s law and regulations of that ‘flag state’ in return for protection and the right of its vessel to be of that sovereign state. A system commonly known as “Flags of Convenience” (FOC) has developed, in which commercial vessels register in countries with “open registries” and consequently the ships contain practically no link at all to the flag states in which they are registered.
Freedom of the “High Seas” and the International Legal Regime
Early as the Roman Empire...
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Deirdre M. Warner-Kramer & Krista Canty, Stateless Fishing Vessels: The Current International Regime and a New Approach, (2000).
H. Edwin Anderson, III, The Nationality of Ships and Flags of Convenience: Economics, Politics, and Alternatives, (1996).
Jeremy Firestone & James Corbett, Combating Terrorism in the Environmental Trenches: Responding to Terrorism: Maritime Transportation: A Third Way for Port and Environmental Security.
Edwin Anderson, The Nationality of Ships and Flags of Convenience: Economics, Politics, and Alternatives.
United Nations Convention the Law of the Sea http://www.cfr.org/international-law/united-nations convention-law-sea/p16396
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of US Dept of Commerce web site, http://www.gc.noaa.gov/gcil_glossary.html
John E. Noves, International Law of the Sea, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40707349
United Nations , "United Nations and Convention on the Law of the Sea:Division for Ocean Affairs and the LAw of the Sea." Accessed November 27, 2013. http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/UNCLOS-TOC.htm.
The national transportation system was composed of relatively discrete units of rail, road and water transportation sub-systems, which interfaced by necessity rather than by design. Today, due to increasing cargo volumes and competition from other national port systems, the cornerstone of our national port and waterways system must be the recognition that intermodalism maximizes the efficiency of our system and provides the well marked pathways to future planning and development efforts. Intermodalism requires a seamless transportation system, which provides smooth transition of cargo from one transportation mode to the other. It also requires the recognition that the waterborne and land based infrastructure must develop with the needs of the users in mind. These developments must include developing technology in the areas of ship design and onboard equipment, vessels traffic systems, aids, and port access programs that efficiently link marine transportation systems to their rail and road links.
Copes in his article discusses a 200-mile fishing limit, which was meant to protect interests of coastal fishing nations whose survival and well-being was dependent on the fishing operations at their shores. There are two several reasons why 200-mile fishing limit had to take place. It is believed that coastal nations are greatly affected by other distant water fishing nations, which send large fleets to fish in their areas and, therefore, deplete those areas of fish. Copes proposes that there are mainly two reasons why extended jurisdiction has to take place. The main idea is that coastal nations have the right to have proper access to fish in their waters, where fish won’t be depleted because of others’ use. Besides that, implementation of
Grouchier, C & Walton, L. 2013. The maritime world: The Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean World. Vol 2. London & New York.
... The cruise ship pollution campaign has been strengthened by the cooperation among organizations that the Bluewater Network petition facilitated. Heightened public awareness, engendered by NGO campaigns, has pressured the U.S. government and the cruise ship industry to respond. If policy changes, such as those presented in the Clean Cruise Ships Act of 2004, occur, the activities of Conservation International may allow the cruise ship industry to comply with environmental regulations while maintaining high profits. The confluence of each NGO’s actions may provide the means necessary for a strong domestic ocean regime. In the absence of international cooperation, a strong American ocean policy is an important step in safeguarding the world’s oceans. Various strategies have allowed NGOs to highlight cruise ship pollution as an issue that can not longer be ignored.
The alleged offence committed in the present case relates to the conservation of the fishery resources in the exclusive economic zone (illegal fishing of toothfish). It was argued that the only offence committed by the Master of the vessel was his failure to notify its entry into the EEZ of the Kerguelen Islands and the tonnage of fish it carried on board, and that the vessel did not fish in the said zone. The Tribunal then applied various factors to the present case, (gravity of the alleged offences, range of penalties imposable under French law, value of the Monte Confurco and of the fish and fishing gear seized). The Tribunal found that the bond of 56,400,000 FF imposed by the French court was not reasonable pursuant to article 292 of UNCLOS. The Application concerning the allegation of non-compliance with article 73, paragraph 2, of UNCLOS was admissible and the allegation well-founded. The Parties were in disagreement whether the Master of the vessel was in detention. The Tribunal noted that the Master was not in a position to leave Réunion and considered that, in the circumstances of the case, it was appropriate to order the release of the Master in accordance with article 292, paragraph 1, of
The first element of international law is state practice. There are certain behaviors that are regarded as customs once they are practiced by a substantial amount of states over a prolonged period of time. However, it is important to note that this stand...
The Hague Rules and subsequently the Hague Visby Rules are favourable to the carrier and bring the cargo owners in disadvantageous position. Most of the ships owning countries are the developed countries and the cargo owners are from the developing countries. The Hague Rules or the Hague Visby Rules become burdensome on the cargo owners. Again there arose the issue of the double insurance where the cargo owner was carrying insurance for liability which was really that of the shipowners. The difficulties faced by The Hague and Hague-Visby regimes set the international organizations in motion to bring a new convention on the Carriage of goods by sea.
Donna J, Nincic., “The Challenge of Maritime Terrorism: Threat Identification, WMD and Regime Response”, The Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol. 28 No. 4, 2005, pp. 635-636.
Promotion of seafarers rights coupled with international co-operation is likely to boost international trade and competition among ship owners. Commitment from governments and ship owners is critical in ensuring effective and successful implementation of the convention in order to achieve its goals. It was anticipated that as the MLC 2006 was being ratified by countries, the conventions which were in existence would be slowly phased out to pave way for the implementation of the new convention.
Flag of convenience (FOC) can be defined as a business practice under which a vessel's owners register their vessel in a vessel register of a country that they do not necessarily belong to, and the vessel sails the civil flag of that country, which called the flag state. This practice especially used since 1950s and is mentioned to the flag that a vessel flies in the practice to show its registration from its particular country. This country of registration will select the regulation under which this vessel is required to operate, and that to the only applied in that related admiralty case ( HG.org, 2018). In 2009, over half of the world’s merchant vessels were registered with open registries, with Panama, Liberia, and Marshall Islands flags,
Maritime shipping has become one of the most important ways of commercial transport with the new markets and the increase into the world economies. At present more than 80% of world trade is conducted by sea . The Pacific historically has been one of the most active maritime trading grounds. Linking the American and Asian continents the majority of the world’s shipping passes through the seas of Southeast Asia, East Asia, and South Asia.
Rotterdam Rules has been established to harmonize the law governing the international carriage of goods by sea in which a new uniform rules maybe adopted by the major shipping countries in order to replace the previous conventions, particularly in terms of the carrier’s obligation. Therefore, it adopts evolutionary concept rather than the revolutionary one to regulate such obligations in which the existing rules have been amended for example, from ‘tackle to tackle’ to ‘door-to-door’. In addition, it establishes new commercial practices where it is necessary for instance, ‘electronic transport documents’ or ‘shipper’s obligations’ therefore it covers the sea carrier’s obligation with new manners differ than those under Hague-Visby-Rules.[footnoteRef:1] [1: Theodora Nikaki, and Baris Soyer, p 319.]
Italy and the International Law of the Sea: the Italian marines case as a case study in the scope of the International Law of the Sea.
With the world’s economy growing at a rapid rate and global transportation on the rise; there is a need to understand the requirements and regulations for this mode of transport. The difference between the shipping agents and brokers is important as one can see their different rolls and how their relationships are important to the structure of ocean shipping in global logistics. Free Alongside Shipping (FAS) and its obligations to the seller and buyer is discussed as it is only applicable to sea or inland waterway transport requiring the seller to deliver goods to a named port alongside a vessel designated by the buyer.