Maritime law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Maritime law - Essay Example The law of maritime claims has been promoted along different routes in civil law administration. Vessels are recognised as objects of security rights in all nations. Despite this and the fact that maritime claims are of profound commercial significance, there is a high degree of international uncertainty in the subject of maritime claims and mortgages. There is a great difference among nations in the way they create and enforce maritime claims. It is for this reason that a standard list of maritime claims and an agreeable way of enforcing them was drafted by Comire Maritime International and adopted by the Brussels Diplomatic Conference. In 1926 in Brussels, the initial efforts were made to unify particular rules regarding maritime claims and mortgages. However, there were problems in the enforcement of the rules and this led to a review in 1952 in Brussels, undertaken by IMO and UNCTAD. The international convention on the arrest of ships was the combined efforts of the numerous conventions held earlier, especially the 1952 international convention, which aimed at unifying certain rules adopted by various countries in relation to arrest of sea going ships. At Geneva in March 1999, the new international convention on the arrest of ships as expressed in A/CONF.188/6 was adopted by the conference, after reviewing the 1952 arrest convention to address the identified deficiencies. As a result, the categories of maritime claim that could lead to arrest were altered, changing from 17 in 1952 convention to 22 in the 1999 convention. Not many countries have been able to approve the new convection, so it may apply in their countries., because some nations still feel dissatisfied by the new rule and its consequences it could cause in the nations. After Albania, which was the 10th country to ratify the new convention in March 2011, the new international convention came into forc e on 14th September 2011, and was to apply to any ship within the signatory state’s jurisdiction.3 The number of ratifying countries is still low and one would question the reason for the reluctance; it is worth noting that most of the powerful nations, such as the US, UK, and Japan have not attempted to approve it. However, by properly analyzing the 1999 arrest convention and its implications, there are both benefits and negative effects in the society. Effects of the New Convention 1. Liability for unjustified arrests or excessive security Following the inclusion of damages costs in the 1999 convention, which was not part of 1952 convention, the owners of the arrested ships are further protected by the legal terms in case of incurred loss, found to have been attributed to the claimant arrest directive. According to Article 6 of A/CONF.188/6, the court could impose upon the claimant the obligation to provide certain security, upon such terms as could be determined in court f or any loss the defendant acquires from the unjustified/wrongful arrest, or demanded excessive security in which the claimant may be found liable.4 With this part of the law, there are chances that the shipping industry may view the article differently. ‘The states with flags of convenience and states with large fleets could try to limit the cases where arrest may be made and thus ratify the 1999 convention, whereas states having a dominant trading economy might request security for what could happen to their cargo and their contracts of carriage vital for import and export.’5 While some countries could limit the cases of arrest within their jurisdiction for fear of defendants claim for damage, others could increase chances of security claim for their benefit. This move extends to cause more costs in solving for the cases that will occur in future, due to broadened scope of arrests considering that no party so desires to spend their