Maritime Liability in Collisions, Pollution & Cargo Damage: Convention, Defences, Jurisdiction
Module: MARLAW 4012 — Advanced Issues in Maritime Law
Level: Final Year Undergraduate (or PG Diploma)
Credit Weighting: 20 credits
Assessment Type: Coursework (Essay / Legal Opinion) — Assignment 2
Weight in Module: 40 %
Word Count: 3,500 ±10% (excluding footnotes, bibliography, annexes)
Submission Deadline: 30 April 2025, 23:59 BST (via the VLE)
Return Date: Within 4 weeks
Feedback: Written individual feedback plus generic class feedback
Learning Outcomes Assessed
This assignment is designed to assess students’ ability to:
- Demonstrate deep understanding of liability regimes in maritime law (contractual, tort, strict liability, environmental)
- Critically compare relevant international treaties and UK domestic statutes in maritime claims
- Apply legal principles to complex factual situations and propose reasoned solutions
- Evaluate jurisdiction, choice of law, limitation and defences in maritime claims
- Conduct up-to-date legal research, marshal authority, structure coherent argumentation, and use correct legal referencing
Scenario / Task
You are acting as legal adviser to Seascape Carriers Ltd, a UK-incorporated shipping company. Their vessel MV Polaris (UK-flagged, London management) was en route from Singapore to Felixstowe when, in the English Channel, heavy seas and a sudden storm caused the vessel to deviate. In the deviation, the vessel collided with a small offshore installation (owned by a French company operating under a UK licence), resulting in:
- damage to the installation’s structure,
- pollution of nearby waters (oil leakage),
- partial loss / damage to part of the cargo,
- and a personal injury claim by one of the installation’s maintenance crew.
Seascape’s bill of lading contains a clause incorporating the Hague-Visby Rules (by English law). The vessel holds P&I cover. The installation is regulated under UK safety / environmental regimes despite foreign ownership.
You are asked to prepare a legal opinion (essay format), addressed to Seascape’s board, which should:
- Identify and classify the possible claims (contract, tort, environmental, strict liability) arising from the facts.
- Examine and analyse the relevant international conventions (e.g. Hague-Visby, CLC, MARPOL, LLMC, Bunkers Convention, Limitation Conventions), and applicable UK domestic law.
- Evaluate defenses and limitation of liability (force majeure, contributory negligence, statute / treaty-based limits).
- Discuss jurisdictional, forum and choice-of-law issues and how they might affect claim strategy.
- Advise on risk-management, potential settlement / arbitration, and insurance strategies.
- Support your opinion with recent case law (from 2019 onwards) and doctrinal commentary.
Use legal citation (footnotes or endnotes) and include a complete bibliography. You may include short annexes (timeline, statute extracts) — these do not count toward the word limit.
Marking Rubric / Assessment Criteria
Marks will be allocated using the following criteria (approximate weightings):
| Criterion | Weight | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Legal Knowledge & Issue Identification | 30% | Are all relevant legal issues, treaties, statutes, and cases recognized and correctly described? |
| Analysis & Application | 30% | How well does the student apply legal rules to the facts? Are contrasting arguments weighed? Are ambiguities addressed? |
| Structure, Clarity & Argument | 15% | Logical organization, transparent structure, clear signposting, persuasive legal reasoning |
| Use of Authority & Quality of Research | 15% | Use of up-to-date and relevant jurisprudence, doctrine, good integration of sources, correct citation |
| Presentation & Referencing | 10% | Consistency & accuracy of legal referencing, grammar, style, adherence to word limit |
Grade boundaries follow standard departmental scale (e.g. First ≥ 70%, Upper Second 60–69%, etc.). Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable and will be penalised.
References
Chen, L. (2023). Maritime rights, obligations, and liabilities of intelligent ships. Journal of International Maritime Law, 29(2), 110–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/25725084.2023.2264566Taylor & Francis Online
Peter, M. M. (2025). Tortious liability for autonomous marine vehicle collisions. Marine Policy & Law Review, (advance online). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2025.500xxxScienceDirect
Safari, F. (2024). Challenges for the application of liability limitation in marine pollution damage. Law Research Magazine, 12(1), 45–68.Law Research Magazine
Wu, X. (2025). Effectiveness of the polluter-pays principle under the CLC. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 189, Article 114947. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.114947