The international nature of the maritime industry means that ships are subject to the varying legal jurisdictions of the ports in which they call. Law and policy provide a framework necessary for establishing order and harmonization in a highly regulated global industry; they are vital instruments for promoting the safety, security, and commercial efficiency of shipping as well as the protection of the marine environment, in an atmosphere of competing national-contra-global as well as private-contra-public interests. Furthermore, it is of great importance that the legal and policy aspects of maritime activities closely follow the rapid pace of technological and commercial developments. Students and practitioners in maritime law and policy need to be constantly familiar with trends in the shipping industry and possess a solid comprehension of the international legal regimes that not only encourage the sustainable development of global maritime commerce, but also regulate its conduct. This book is a collection of essays dedicated to Professor Proshanto Kumar PK Mukherjee, one of the leading lights in the area of maritime law and policy. It presents a mix of background information and insightful analysis by leading experts on a wide range of some of the most pressing and contemporary maritime law and policy topics – ranging from the development of maritime standards (Mbiah) to the challenges of operating flags of convenience (Mensah), from the latest convention on the international carriage of goods by sea (Basu Bal) to liability and compensation issues related to ship-source marine pollution (Jacobsson, Xu, Kojima), from the intricacies of marine insurance law (Thomas, Gauci) to the vagaries of the conflict of laws (Manolis), and from the legal framework for maritime piracy (Menefee) to the linkages between political stability, economic development, and piracy (Mejia).
