Carriage of Goods by Sea

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CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA
Name
Institution
Date

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Carriage of Goods by Sea
Executive Summary
This report breaks down the laws that govern international marine. Thus, the sections of the
report are broken in the following manner;
A) The introduction part provides that perspective and insight into international shipping laws.
Through its breakdown of international laws and the provision of clarity in their implementation,
it sets the stage for examining the international maritime laws and their remedies.
B) The definition of terms for the maritime laws boosts the understanding of navigating
through the maritime reports for a better understanding. This report begins with a broad
definition of seaworthiness according to the common law jurisdiction. Other main terminologies
that are defined include; carrier, contract of carriage and carriage of goods.
C) The literature review is the section that bears the main flesh of the report, providing an
understanding of the international laws that govern marine and sea transportation. Through the
provision of the remedies for a carrier or owner of a ship involved in an accident, much of the
maritime laws have been discussed and deliberated on. Also, the purpose and the importance of
the laws have been highlighted in the report.

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Contents
Executive Summary............................................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................. 4
Methodology............................................................................................................................................................. 5
Definition of Terms................................................................................................................................................ 6
Seaworthiness meaning at common law.................................................................................................. 6
Other definitions of terms include.............................................................................................................. 7
Literature Review................................................................................................................................................... 7
Remedies for seaworthiness......................................................................................................................... 7
Understanding Maritime International Laws......................................................................................... 9
Conclusion............................................................................................................................................................... 11
References............................................................................................................................................................... 12

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Introduction
Merchant shipping industry is highly regulated given it represents a larger scope of international
safety. Therefore, regulations covering carriage of goods at sea are normally formulated at the
international level. Shipping covers an international scope creating a vitality for subjecting
shipping to regulations that are uniform on the matters like; standards of construction, standards
of competence for the crew and the rules of navigation. Other alternatives open up room for red
tape which conflict and leads to administrative confusion and commercial distortion creating
confusion and compromise on world trade practices’ efficiency. The distortion and confusion
would bring compromise on the efficiency of world trade (Baughen 2015). The IMO is the
United Nations agency that is based in London and is responsible for the sea’s life safety and the
marine environment protection. National governments have the requirement to enforce and
implement the international rules for purposes of ensuring the compliance of ships registered
under their national flags (Marshall 2012). IMO conventions have a high level of enforcement
and ratification when compared to the adoption of international rules for the industries that are
shore based. The countries in which the registration of ship merchants took place, has the
responsibility to enforce IMO regulations that concern environmental protection and ship safety,
and could not be the countries under which the ships are owned. The enforcement of IMO
requirements is done by the flag states through ship inspections that are conducted by
international surveyors’ network (Bo 2017). The state enforcement practice is however
supplemented by Port State Control in which the officials in the countries visited by a ship can
carry out the inspection of foreign flag ships for purposes of ensuring compliance with the
international requirements (Julian 2007). The regulation of the seaworthiness of ships helps to
regulate the safety of ships at sea. However, there are remedies for a carrier whose ship is
involved in an accident. So long as the carrier ensured that his ship is seaworthy enough and able