Understanding Maritime Law: Key Principles and Applications
Posted on Nov 13, 2024 at 04:11 AM
While navigating and shipping through high seas, your crews, passengers, and ships safety and security should be a vital point in your business strategy to guarantee that you follow the maritime law and admiralty in the United States water or international waters.
Furthermore, the admiralty and maritime laws represent the legal rules and principles in the marine industry, whether you run a commerce or entertainment business.
In this article, we will share quality information about united international maritime law, its admiralty principles, and key maritime law applications. And explain the difference between common laws and maritime laws based on our maritime constitution specialists' experience.
What Is Maritime Law in Simple Terms?
Maritime law is a substantive set of laws, admiralty rules, and legal principles governing international and national maritime activities, matters, and aspects in sea and inland waterways, in other words, applies maritime law in any navigable waters, including oceans, seas, and rivers.
Additionally, maritime law, also known as admiralty law, covers any disputes, questions, and issues that could happen during shipping, navigation, or marine commerce based on the international admiralty jurisdiction.
So, we can say that the main goal of the created maritime body of law applied by the Marine Law Association of the United States (MLADS) is to guarantee safety, fair trade, and protection for maritime workers with special legal admiralty rules and laws.
What Is the Difference Between Common Law and Maritime Law?
We know you may be confused with the two concepts of these international laws, thus, let us explain them to you shortly and professionally:
- Common law is the law that regulates coast and land and covers procedural contracts, property claims, and crimes, based on the distinct domestic jurisdiction rules, legal regulations, and contract relations, of each state or country.
- Admiralty and maritime law, on the other hand, is the international law that governs local and foreign activities offshore, on navigable waters on the national levels, involving complex shipping injuries, navigation between countries, transactional statutes, maritime cybersecurity regulations, piracy-guard solutions, and seafarers' rights.
Main Principles of Admiralty and Maritime Law:
Now, it is time to go deeper into the details and database of the almost united international maritime and admiralty law, and explain the arising legal terms and recognized rules of admiralty jurisdiction:
Maritime Jurisdiction:
Maritime jurisdiction is the modern legal body that defines the admiralty rules and laws of fishing rights, resource exploitation, materials carriage, and environmental protection within each government and country's legal jurisdiction zones.
These zones could be divided into territorial waters (up to 12 nautical miles) and exclusive economic zones (up to 200 nautical miles).
Maritime Salvage:
The main principle behind this devoted maritime law is encouraging marine workers in the sea to assist others by rescuing ships, cargo, or lives in distress without risking their firm facing legal admiralty consequences or federal courts.
Furthermore, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) guide grants that crews who successfully save other injured individuals or ships could be rewarded with private compensation.
Protection of the Marine Environment:
Maritime laws and admiralty regulations focus on environmental protection from any founded activities in the sea, using strict legal principles and treaties to preserve and protect marine ecosystems from damage caused by ships, oil spills, and other human activities and ensure sustainable ocean use.
The United Right of Innocent Passage:
All ships and vessels have the right to pass through a country's territorial waters without permission or further obligations, as long as it does not threaten security or violate international admiralty and maritime law.
Furthermore, this admiralty and maritime law principle developed vessel transport, which promotes global trade and communication.
Passengers Safety:
If you think about the main concept of maritime law, including the regulations on lifeboats, emergency procedures, and maritime training, you would see that it revolves around the concept of protecting lives at sea and preventing accidents.
Basic Applications of the International Maritime Law:
Admiralty and maritime law enforcement have specific applications on the sea and waterways to ensure the full efficiency of these maritime legal procedures:
Maritime Transportation Contracts:
Several types of maritime transportation contracts cover charter parties and bills of lading to guarantee smooth and legal shipping operations and shipping of goods by sea with detailed responsibilities, liabilities, and rights of involved parties.
Maritime Insurance:
Maritime law insurance is the legal admiralty frame that provides financial protection for ships, cargo, and crew against the risks of damage, theft, or accidents at sea, with various policies to choose from based on your business requirements, such as hull insurance for vessels and cargo insurance for transported goods.
Maritime Safety:
As we said, safety comes first in international maritime thus, this legal set has high safety standards to protect vessels, crews, and passengers and lower accident rates, with effective rules of safety protocols, emergency procedures, and ship maintenance.
Eventually,
Understanding the united international maritime law is not only required to be able to work on the sea, but also to protect your crews, ships, and any assets from penalties and consequences.
Thus, learning and studying with maritime professional training will be the only way to know all the basics and rules attached to the united international maritime law.
