Admiralty Law

Admiralty Law

Overview of the Case

In the given case, an oil tanker named “MV Rustbucket” was on its way to Rotterdam, Netherlands from Saudi Arabia. It was registered in Ruritania. During the course of its journey, around nine miles off the cost of Cymru, it collided with another containership named MV Unseaworthy. That vessel was registered in Gondor. Due to the collision, the latter vessel leaked large amounts of bunkers into the sea. The Rustbucket also spilled the crude oil cargo it was carrying. However, the spillage by Rustbucket was quite less as compared to the other vessel. As a result of the collision, the cargo tank of Rustbucket was leaked. After the collision, the bunkers and crude oil ended up on the beaches of Cymru. It greatly influenced the beach goers and tourists and also affected the fish farms on shore.

In an attempt to act quickly, more than half the crew of the Unseaworthy which was headed by the Chief Officer abandoned the ship, without an authorisation n from the master. They used lifeboats to leave the vessel fearing that it would eventually sink. Later, the master ordered the remaining crew on board to leave the ship. Hence, they left the boat drifting without the crew. It caused the authorities to become concerned about the potential threat of a pollution incident as it involved oil spillage and bunkers.

Several hours later, the master realised that the ship would not sink and asked the crew of MV Unseaworthy to board the ship. They started up the engines and took the vessel to a safe anchorage on the port. The port was referred by the Marine Department of Cymru. Once the vessel was anchored, the damages speculated turned out to be quite extensive.

The owners of the vessel contracted with a salvage company under LOF to do the repairs and to get the ship to be escorted to the port for proper repair works.

Marine Laws

Currently, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) gives the required legal basis for coastal zone management. The current Law of the Sea (UN) has the following provisions (Kari, 2006, pp. 11).

It determines the spatial limits of the different coastal zones. It also suggests the demarcation of border boundaries between countries that share seas.

It also includes a detailed account of the legal requirements based on different territories and coastal zones.

According to the Law of the Sea (1982), the extension of coastal territories is also marked i.e. straits that are used for International routes and navigation.

It also includes a wide variety of legal jargon used in navigation and Marine laws i.e. contiguous, adjoining, adjacent etc.

Most importantly it highlights the various legal sanctions and consequences according to the coastal territory. It also provides the country laws with regards to violation of territories.

National Maritime Law

If we analyze the 'National Maritime Law' closely, it includes the various norms related to navigation and coastal division between ...