Law of Marine Insurance

 

Every year a significant number of sea-going vessels are lost or damaged, resulting in huge losses not only through damage to the vessels themselves and the cargoes they carry, but also and increasingly through consequential liabilities, not least for damage to the environment.

Marine insurance is, consequently, an indispensable aspect of the practice of international trade. It is the means of providing financial protection against a range of perils and liabilities including the following:

• “perils of the seas”, including storms and collisions
• piracy (a major problem in some parts of the world) and various forms of theft
• smuggling
• fraud
• negligence liabilities for oil pollution (as a result of casualties involving most famously the Exxon Valdez in Alaska and, more recently, the Erika off the French coast)
• liability for salvage and general average awards

The law of marine insurance is a major branch of maritime and international trade law. This full year option is concerned predominantly with marine property insurance, i.e. the insurance of ships, cargoes and freight, although many of the principles considered equally underpin liability policies.

The law considered is predominantly English law, although it is of international relevance for three reasons. First, the marine insurance law of many other jurisdictions (for example, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, United States of America) is based upon and/or follows English law. Secondly, the London insurance market is of major international importance both in the direct provision of insurance and in the reinsurance of risks underwritten by insurers in other jurisdictions around the world. Thirdly, many shipowners’ mutual associations, major providers of liability insurance, also employ English law.

Marine insurance complements the specialist LLM's in Maritime Law and International Commercial Law and the Law of Marine insurance as taught in the School of Law is interesting, dynamic, relevant and challenging.