This course provides the background for understanding maritime law. It covers two interconnected areas:

The first is how international shipping operates within a legal framework underpinned by the freedom of navigation, the flag state's rights and responsibilities with respect to ships flying its flag and the global requirements for safe ships and clean seas. The course considers the regulatory regime developed within the International Maritime Organisation, the codification of the legal rights of flag and coastal states under the Law of the Sea Convention 1982, the ways through which the quality of shipping is assured by flag states and the consequences for non-compliant ships. The efforts for the development of sustainable shipping and for decarbonisation are considered by looking at the various interests involved.

The second part provides an overview of the major stakeholders in shipping, namely, shipowners, the banks funding them, the charterers and cargo owners, the Classification Societies, the hull and Protection and Indemnity Insurers (P&I Clubs), the port services and the salvors, the crew and the passengers. The legal arrangements between the various stakeholders are outlined. The purpose of the course is to provide a landscape for the embedment of the specialised courses dealing with the legal arrangements between specific stakeholders.

To pass each course, students need a total score of at least 40% and a minimum of 30% in both the continuous assessment (CA) component and final exam component. To ensure fair and comprehensive assessment of students' course performance, the pass mark requirement for the CA component will be waived for courses with a CA component equal to or less than 30%. This means students only need to achieve the pass marks for the final exam component AND the overall mark to pass the course. Continuous assessment for this purpose means those ways in which students are assessed otherwise than by the end of semester examination.