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Centre for Commercial Law Studies

Shipping Law

A shipping boat

Explore this course to build a solid foundation in key areas of maritime law.

The Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, is pleased to offer a new Executive Education course on Shipping Law in partnership with Hellenic Management Centre. The course is ideal for those working in the maritime business who come across critical aspects of international trade and maritime law on a daily basis. 

Course description and aims

This 5 week course is designed to provide a rigorous dissection of the legal issues affecting all parts of the shipping industry. The course does not assume any legal knowledge and includes an introduction to contract law and agency law principles – the key pillars of many elements of maritime law. Practical examples and real-life cases will be used throughout the course.

One of the unique characteristics of this course is the wide range of topics covered. It brings together academia and experienced leading legal practitioners from the shipping market. The sessions will be delivered interactively, combining academic excellence and practical insight. The course is crafted for the needs of all maritime professionals who may require legal insight.  

This course will develop your understanding of:

  • The legal foundations of both “dry” shipping law (contractual relations and transactions) and “wet” shipping law (the law governing incidents at sea).
  • The legal terminology and concepts underpinning day-to-day maritime work.
  • The international maritime conventions regulating the liability of carriers in carriage of goods by sea.
  • The rights and obligations of charterers and shipowners arising out of time and voyage charterparty contracts.
  • The functions of bills of lading in the context of cargo claims.
  • The relationship of bills of lading with other documents and contracts in international trade (e.g. contracts of sale and charterparties).
  • The key principles and practices of marine insurance including claims handling.
  • The procedural framework for the enforcement of maritime claims (including pre-trial security in the form of arrest and freezing injunctions).
  • Liability of the vessel in the event of maritime casualties (collisions, salvage, general average).
  • Dispute resolution with a particular emphasis on maritime arbitration.

The course will be taught online and interactively through synchronous teaching sessions. Class discussions and debates will be encouraged on topics ranging from digitalisation to the impact of sanctions on charterer’s contractual obligations. There will be no formal assessment for the participants.

At the conclusion of the course, participants should have acquired a foundational knowledge and understanding of shipping law which could help them to develop themselves in their existing role and broaden their career options. Participants should also have an understanding of legal risks and the challenges of dealing with disputes in the maritime industry, whether it be in their role as a maritime operator, lawyer, chartering broker, or a claims handler in the insurance sector. 

Delivery Format

The course is a ten day programme with a total teaching duration of 27 hours. The rough agenda is below:

1. Introduction to Maritime Law (3 hours)

  • Basic Legal Concepts, Contract Law and agency law on 1 November at 18:30-21:30 EET.

2. Carriage of Goods by Sea (9 hours)

  • Basics of Contracts/Contracts of Carriage on 3 November at 18:00-20:00 EET.
  • Legal Aspects of Charter Parties on 6 November at 18:00-20:30 EET.
  • International Conventions; Legal framework governing carriage of goods by sea (Hague -Visby Rules, Hamburg Rules, etc.) 9 November at 18:00-20:30 EET.
  • Legal Aspects of Bills of Lading on 14 November at 18:00-20:00 EET

3. Disputes Resolution (3 hours)

  • Maritime Arbitration (with reference to other modes of dispute resolution) on 16 November at 18:00-21:00 EET.

4. Marine Insurance (6 hours)

  • Principles of Marine Insurance & Practices on 20 November at 18:30-21:30 EET.
  • Claims Handling on 22 November at 18:30-21:30 EET.

5. Admiralty (3 hours)

  • Admiralty Law, and Enforcement of Maritime Claims on 27 November at 18:00-21:00.

6. General Average - Salvage - Collision (3 hours)

  • General Average - Salvage - Collision on 30 November at 18:30-21:30.

Participants

The course is ideal for those working in the maritime business who come across critical aspects of international trade and maritime law on a daily basis.

The course is ideal for:

  • Claims handlers in a P&I Club
  • Commodity traders
  • Paralegals in international law firms
  • Solicitors with exposure to shipping transactions
  • Maritime operators
  • Shipbrokers
  • Freight Forwarders
  • Master mariners and those with seagoing experience

Regardless of your link with shipping and international trade, this course will provide you with a solid foundation in key areas of maritime law.   

Prior knowledge of maritime law or dispute resolution is not required. The course is also suitable for those without a legal background or law graduates without a background in shipping. Shipping industry personnel with seagoing experience may also find it useful to attend the course.

You will be awarded a Certificate of Participation upon completion of the programme.

Participants need to meet at least one of the following requirements:

  • An undergraduate degree or the highest-grade Certificate of Competency for unrestricted service as a master mariner or chief engineer; or
  • Professional experience in a related area; or
  • Non-graduates with approved professional qualifications or who have sufficient professional experience; or
  • ICS Members & students (law specialization).

Please note that all applicants must have internationally recognized English language proficiency test.

 

Instructors

Dr. Miriam Goldby is Professor of Shipping, Insurance and Commercial Law and Director of Research at Queen Mary’s Centre for Commercial Law Studies. She was previously director of the Centre’s Insurance, Shipping and Aviation Law Institute (2019-2022) and founder and director of its International Shipping Law LLM (2013-2022). She is the author of Electronic Documents in Maritime Trade: Law and Practice (Oxford University Press), the second edition of which was published in 2019, and has published extensively in the fields of shipping, insurance and financial law. Miriam has contributed to the work of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Comité Maritime International (CMI) Standing Committee on Carriage of Goods.

Dr. Filip Saranovic is the Director of the International Shipping Law LLM programme at Queen Mary's Centre for Commercial Law Studies. He has over 10 years of experience teaching maritime and commercial law at undergraduate, postgraduate and executive level.  Filip is the author of a book entitled Freezing Injunctions in Private International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2022). 

Mr. George Margaritopoulos is Associate Director at Richards Hogg Lindley (RHL) Piraeus since 2015 and has also spent time working in RHL’s London office. He is qualified as a Fellow of the Association of Average Adjusters and has previously worked as a spares and shipyards broker and also as a chartering broker. George holds a bachelor degree in Industrial Management & Technology from the University of Piraeus and an MSc in Marine Policy from Cardiff University, teaches Marine Insurance and Shipping Law at the HMC / Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers.

Mr. Harris Loukopoulos has substantial expertise in all fields of maritime and corporate law, having acted since 1996 as General Counsel for prominent shipping companies and dealt with complex maritime and corporate issues, both transactional as well as litigation. Harris has extensive commercial expertise in ship management, voyage and time charters, sale and purchase transactions and the financing markets, and has been instrumental in the public listing (IPOs) of shipping companies in the US and in Singapore and has strong expertise in structured and project finance transactions and M&As. Harris has been involved in cross border insolvency and restructuring proceedings in the US, England and Greece, as well as various shipping, marine insurance and corporate law disputes that have led to court litigation or out of court settlements, he is both litigation and transaction oriented and has a sharp business acumen giving him the ability to offer wide range commercial minded solutions. Harris holds a Law Degree from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a Masters Degree in Shipping Law (LLM) from the University of Southampton, is fluent in Greek, English and French. He teaches Legal Principles in Shipping Business and Shipping Law at HMC/ ICS Greek Branch.

 

 

 

In partnership with Hellenic Management Centre

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