Jimcy S.

Navida
BSMarE III-C
MarLaw 1
International Maritime Law
1. Law
1. A recognized causal link or principle whose violation must or should result in
a penalty as failure, injury, loss, or pain.
2. The binding rules of conduct meant to enforce justice and prescribe duty or obligation, and
derived largely from custom or formal enactment by a ruler or legislature. These laws carry with
them the power and authority of the enactor, and associated penalties for failure or refusal to
obey. Law derives its legitimacy ultimately from universally accepted principles such as the
essential justness of the rules, or the sovereign power of a parliament to enact them.
3. A description of a direct link between cause and effect of a phenomenon deduced
from experiments and/or observations.

2. Maritime Law - has been variously described and defined in ways that reflect subjective
perception as well as semantics. One view is that "maritime law provides the legal framework
for maritime transport. Another is that maritime law comprises a "body of legal rules and
concepts concerning the business of carrying goods and passengers by water. Both are narrow in
scope but the first is more general and could be construed as embracing matters maritime which
extend beyond the purely private domain of maritime business and commerce into areas of
public concern.

3. Municipal law or Domestic law - Internal law of an individual state (which is a part of
a federation) or national law of a nation state. Opposite of international law.
Is the national, domestic, or internal law of a sovereign state defined in opposition to inter
nationallaw. Municipal law includesnot only law at the national level, but law at the state, provin
cial, territorial, regional or local levels. While, as far as the law of the state isconcerned, these ma
y be distinct categories of law, international law is largely uninterested in this distinction and trea
ts them all as one.Similarly, international law makes no distinction between the ordinary law of t
he state and its constitutional law.
4. International law - international law is derived from a number of sources, of which, custom
and treaties are the principal ones.
- Body of legal rules governing interaction between sovereign states (Public International
Law) and the rights and duties of the citizens of sovereign states towards the citizens of other
sovereign states (Private International Law). Since there has never been a law making body for
international law, it has been built up piecemeal through
accords, agreements, charters, compromises, conventions, memorandums,protocols, treaties,
tribunals, understandings, etc. The statute of the International Court Of Justice (judicial arm of
the UN which has no enforcement power, and can adjudicate only where both sides agree to
abide by its decisions) states the basis on which it adjudicates cases before it as "(a) international
conventions, whether general or particular, establishing rules expressly recognized by the
contesting states; (b) international custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law; (c)
the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations." It is not 'World Law' but law
between consenting sovereign states (each government can decide which law it will adhere to or
not) and has not been able to solve the problems of inter-state aggression, conflict, terrorism, and
war. Despite its limited applicability, however, it has played a vital role over the centuries
in developing a system of procedures and rules in areas (such as air, land, sea, outer-
space, human rights) where one state's existence impinges that of the others. The
General assembly of the UN is entrusted with developing international law. Also called law of
nations.

5. Types of Charterer
Chartering is one of the most active and busiest processes within the shipping industry. A charter
party is a legal contract between two parties (e.g. a shipowner and a charterer) regarding lease
and hire of a vessel or all of cargo space or a part of the space. Charter Parties may vary but
typically are
a) A voyage charter: This is the most commonly used Charter Party which is the hiring of a vessel
and crew for a voyage between a loading port and a discharging port. The charterer pays the
vessel owner on a per-ton or lump-sum basis. The owner pays the port costs (excluding
stevedoring), fuel costs and crew costs. The payment for the use of the vessel is known as
freight. A voyage charter specifies a period, known as laytime, for unloading the cargo. If
laytime is exceeded, the charterer must pay demurrage. If laytime is saved, the charter party may
require the shipowner to pay despatch to the charterer.
b) A Contract of Affreightment is a contract similar to a voyage charter, but ship-owner
undertakes to carry a number of cargoes within a specified period of time on a specified route.
Agreed frequency of cargoes may require more than one ship.
c) A time charter is the hiring of a vessel for a specific period of time; the owner still manages the
vessel but the charterer selects the ports and directs the vessel where to go. The charterer pays for
all fuel the vessel consumes, port charges, and a daily hire to the owner of the vessel.
d) A trip time charter is a comparatively short time charter agreed for a specified route only (as
opposed to the standard time charter where charterer is free to employ the vessel within agreed
trading areas).
e) A Bareboat charter (rarely know as demise charter): This is a typical agreement where there is
no maintenance liability or any kind of claim on the vessel by the owner for the period of lease
of the vessel. It is an arrangement for the hiring of a vessel whereby no administration or
technical maintenance is included as part of the agreement. The charterer obtains possession and
full control of the vessel along with the legal and financial responsibility for it. The charterer
pays for all operating expenses, including fuel, crew, port expenses and P&I and hull insurance.
In commercial demise chartering, the charter period may last for many years; and may end with
the charterer acquiring title (ownership) of the ship. In this case, a demise charter is a form of
hire-purchase from the owners, who may well have been the shipbuilders. Demise chartering is
common for tankers and bulk-carriers.
f) Dock charter party: This type of contract is made on the basis of the port or dock where the
vessel is received by the charterer upon leasing or the owner while returning. The exchange
happens in areas which are essentially suited to the size of vessel and are called commercial area
of the port.

6. Owner
1. A party that possesses the exclusive right to hold, use, benefit-from, enjoy, convey, transfer,
and otherwise dispose of an asset or property.
2. Contracts: The party who awards a contract for a project and undertakes to pay the contractor.
Also called contract owner.
3. An employee or executive who has the principle responsibility for a process, program, or
project.
7. Contract - Maritime contract refers to a contract relating to a vessel. Maritime contracts are
distinct from general contracts. Maritime contract is an agreement pertaining to the operation,
navigation, maintenance, and repair or provisioning of a vessel. An action on maritime contract
falls within the ambit of the admiralty jurisdiction. The admiralty court can make a legal
interpretation of the maritime contract when there is any ambiguity in its language. However,
under federal maritime law, a court may not look beyond the written language of the document
to determine the intent of the parties unless the disputed contract provision is ambiguous. In
reviewing maritime contracts to see if their written language is ambiguous, the court interprets
their meaning with respect to their normal and everyday meaning. In the absence of any evidence
or argument from the parties as to how to resolve the ambiguity, the court adheres to the
principle that an ambiguous provision in a maritime contract is to be construed against the
drafter.

8. ISO 9000 and ISO 14000
The ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 families are among ISO's most widely known standards ever. ISO
9000 and ISO 14000 standards are implemented by some 760 900 organizations in 154 countries.
ISO 9000 has become an international reference for quality management requirements in
business-to-business dealings, and ISO 14000 is well on the way to achieving as much, if not
more, in enabling organizations to meet their environmental challenges.

The ISO 9000 family is primarily concerned with "quality management". This means what the
organization does to fulfil:

- the customer's quality requirements, and
- applicable regulatory requirements, while aiming to
- enhance customer satisfaction, and
- achieve continual improvement of its performance in pursuit of these objectives.

The ISO 14000 family is primarily concerned with "environmental management". This means
what the organization does to:

- minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities, and to
- achieve continual improvement of its environmental performance.

The vast majority of ISO standards are highly specific to a particular product, material, or
process. However, the standards that have earned the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 families a
worldwide reputation are known as "generic management system standards".

"Generic" means that the same standards can be applied:
- to any organization, large or small, whatever its product
- including whether its "product" is actually a service,
- in any sector of activity, and
- whether it is a business enterprise, a public administration, or a government department.

"Generic" also signifies that no matter what the organization's scope of activity, if it wants to
establish a quality management system or an environmental management system, then such a
system has a number of essential features for which the relevant standards of the ISO 9000 or
ISO 14000 families provide the requirements.

"Management system" refers to the organization's structure for managing its processes - or
activities - that transform inputs of resources into a product or service which meet the
organization's objectives, such as satisfying the customer's quality requirements, complying to
regulations, or meeting environmental objectives.

9. Maritime lien - A maritime lien is a lien on a vessel that is given to secure the claim of a
creditor who provided maritime services to the vessel or who suffered an injury due to the usage
of the vessel. This is also known as tacit hypothecation. Maritime lien is one of the most striking
peculiarities of Admiralty law that constitutes a charge upon ships. This is a privileged claim
upon maritime property, for service done to it or injury caused by it accruing from the moment
when the claim attaches traveling with the property unconditionally, enforced by means of an
action in rem.
10. Maritime Protest - a written statement under oath, made by the master of a vessel, after the
occurrence of an accident or disaster in which the vessel or cargo is lost or injured, with respect
to the circumstances attending such occurrence. It is usually intended to show that the loss or
damage resulted from a peril of the sea, or from some other cause for which neither master nor
owner was responsible, and concludes with the protestation against any liability of the owner for
such loss or damage.

A maritime protest is required in the following:
1. Arrival under stress;
2. Shipwreck;
3. Collision;
4. In case the vessel has gone through a hurricane or when the captain believes that the cargo has
suffered damages