What is Maritime Law?

Maritime law is like the rules for a sport…

Each sport has its own set of rules. In football, players can tackle each other, but in basketball they can’t. Soccer players can’t use their hands but ultimate frisbee players have to use their hands to throw and catch the disc. Each sport’s rules apply to people playing that sport. Maritime law is a special set of rules that applies to people operating in international waters that determines what they can and can’t do.

Maritime law is a set of rules, treaties, and international agreements that governs international waters.

According to international law, countries can claim ownership of parts of the ocean surrounding their country. While no agreement governs the precise distance from land that countries can claim, convention is that claims exceeding 12 nautical miles from shore generally see heavy opposition.

Beyond territorial waters, no country can claim ownership of the ocean or enforce its laws. In these international waters, people rely on maritime law to settle disputes and create norms and guidelines for how to act.

Maritime law encompasses many different things but largely focuses on commerce and liability, based on the long history of commercial shipping and transportation across the ocean. It includes things like:

• Shipping charters
• Limitation of liability
• Liability for collisions or personal injury
• Insurance
• Salvage rights
• Maritime liens

Maritime law has evolved as civilizations made use of the oceans and seas and began to interact with other countries.

The ancient Egyptians were one of the first groups to have maritime laws because of their significant use of the Mediterranean Sea. The first examples of written maritime law come from Rhodes in Ancient Greece during the 100s AD.

Maritime law evolved through the centuries with a variety of written codes. The Rolls of Oléron and Consulate of the Sea are two important documents from the 12th and 13th century that had influence over future international law. Germany’s commercial code of the 1800s also had major influences.

Modern maritime law began with the International Maritime Organization’s Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, signed in 1958 and the United Nations and its Convention on the Laws of the Sea, signed in 1982. These agreements, which have seen many amendments, provide much of the framework for modern, international maritime law.

Ancient Egyptians and Phoenecians shipped goods over water regularly, so historians assume that these civilizations must have had legal codes relating to maritime law. However, there’s no written evidence or examples of these countries’ maritime laws. Instead, the first written record of maritime law comes from Rhodes, Greece during the 100s AD. One such law is the rule of “average.” If a vessel carries goods belonging to multiple owners, and it sacrifices one owner’s goods to save the others, the liability is shared by all of the people involved in the venture rather than just the person whose goods were lost. Historical records of Rhodes’s laws come from ancient Rome. Much of Roman maritime law was borrowed from the laws created by Rhodes, to the point that it became known as Rhodian Sea Law.

Rome’s position on the Mediterranean Sea, an important area for shipping, as well as its cultural influence over much of Western Europe, led to Rhodian Sea Law having a major influence on the Western world’s maritime law, leading it to evolve into relatively uniform, international codes rather than leaving each country to create its own laws.

Divergence began in the 12th century with the Rolls of Oléron, which were adopted by England, much of France, Scotland, Flanders, and Prussia. In the 13th century, the Consulate of the Sea was created in Barcelona, Spain. The rules were adopted by Spain, Italy, and parts of southeastern France.

Divergence of maritime law continued with the end of the Renaissance and the beginnings of nationalism. Many countries, including France, Sweden, and Denmark created unique codes of law for international waters. France’s Code de Commerce became the dominant code until the mid-1800s, when Germany’s Commercial Code began to gain international influence. Many countries adapted their own maritime laws to include influence from Germany’s.

In 1958, many members of the United Nations formed the International Maritime Organization (IMO). One of the IMO’s first acts was to adopt the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. This convention and the organization’s many other agreements create regulations for the treatment of crew and passengers, the handling of liability for collisions or other losses, and pollution.

Maritime law covers a variety of different incidents.

The United Nations Environmental Programme created the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities. This document regulates ocean pollution from activities on land.

Meanwhile, the IMO’s International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships limits pollution from activities at sea.

For example, Annex 1 of the IMO’s Convention made it mandatory for oil tankers to have double hulls to help prevent damage from oil spills.

Annex 2 bans the discharge of certain noxious substances within 12 miles of land. Annex 4 bans the dumping of sewage into the ocean unless the ship dumping the sewage has a properly equipped and run water treatment plant.

Annex 5 bans the dumping of all plastics from ships into the ocean and regulates the disposal of other types of waste based on the ship’s distance from the nearest land.

Maritime law includes a process for assigning liability for collisions that occur at sea.

In general, a vessel is not found liable for a collision unless the collision occurred due to “a deficiency in the colliding vessel or by negligence or a willful act on the part of its navigators.” However, ships are assumed to be liable for a collision if they collide with a stationary object such as a bridge or a properly moored vessel. In this situation, the moving vessel must prove that it should not be liable.

If a country is a signatory to the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to Collisions Between Vessels, each vessel pays only for its portion of the liability if multiple vessels are found at fault. In other countries, local laws apply. For example, in the United States, all vessels share liability equally, even if they are not equally at fault for an incident.

According to the law of salvage, if someone who is not involved in a venture, meaning they are neither the shipowner nor the owner of property on that ship, recovers goods dropped from a ship or otherwise saves a vessel, that person should receive compensation.

Maritime law outlines how to determine the reward, considering factors such as:

• The skill required for the salvagers to succeed
• The effort the salvagers put in
• The value of the salvage
• The financial and physical risk taken by the salvagers

General average is a doctrine outlining the sharing of liability among people involved in a maritime venture.

According to the rule of general average, all people involved should share in the potential liability if losses occur due to the “peril of the sea.”

Consider this example. A ship is transporting five shipping containers, each belonging to a different owner. Because of inclement weather, the ship must jettison one of the containers to stay afloat. Instead of the owner of the jettisoned container losing the entirety of their investment, the owners of the remaining containers must jointly reimburse the owner of the lost container for its value.

The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea is one example of maritime law. It contains many regulations about ensuring the safety of passengers and workers on ships at sea.

For example, the Convention requires that ships be able to remain afloat and capable of carrying their passengers after sustaining certain types of damage. It also sets mandatory numbers of lifeboats, life jackets, and other safety equipment based on the size of the ship and its capacity.

It also outlines rules for how ships must store and keep dangerous cargo separate from passengers and workers.

The Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts outlines various illegal actions that endanger ships, their passengers, and their crews. Some examples of illegal acts include:

• Taking over a ship by force
• Acts of violence against crew or passengers
• Placing devices on a ship that may damage or destroy it

The Convention also describes the responsibilities of the master of the ship, the ship’s flag country, and the receiving country when it comes to prosecuting offenses. Signing countries agree to either prosecute violators or extradite them to another country for prosecution.

International maritime law applies to the ocean outside of any specific country’s jurisdiction, which makes enforcement of maritime law complex. A ship may fly the flag of one country, regularly operate in another country’s waters, and employ crew from multiple others.

The flag state of a ship is the country where the ship is registered. Generally, national governments have jurisdiction over ships that fly their flag. That makes each country responsible for enforcing certain aspects of international maritime law when it comes to violations or incidents involving ships flying its flag. Article 94 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea specifies “every state shall effectively exercise its jurisdiction and control in administrative, technical, and social matters over ships flying its flag.”

Typically, that means countries should inspect ships for violations of technical standards and set rules regarding the detention of people on its ships. Often, countries do this by setting standards that a ship must meet before its owner registers it.

If a ship operates inside the territorial waters of a country other than its flag country, it is possible for multiple countries to have jurisdiction over a violation of the law. In this scenario, both countries might try to enforce the law.

In the United States, federal courts have explicit power to enforce violations of maritime law for which the country has jurisdiction.

Yes, the United States is subject to international maritime law. The country signed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which outlines many international maritime laws.

The country has its own set of maritime laws that relate to the Law of the Sea and outline how the United States enforces violations of maritime law. Federal admiralty courts, established in 1789, handle all violations of admiralty law and maritime law for which the United States has jurisdiction. This includes violations including ships flying the American flag.

In some situations, admiralty courts may use state courts to settle some disputes that don’t primarily involve maritime law or that are primarily of local importance.

The Coast Guard is the United States’s primary law enforcement agency for maritime law. The Coast Guard helps enforce maritime law both in American and international waters. It also monitors ships for compliance with international agreements that the United States has signed.