Course syllabus for Maritime insurance and transport law

Course syllabus adopted 2022-02-01 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameSjöförsäkring och transporträtt
  • CodeSJO810
  • Credits7.5 Credits
  • OwnerMPMAR
  • Education cycleSecond-cycle
  • Main field of studyShipping and Marine Technology
  • DepartmentMECHANICS AND MARITIME SCIENCES
  • GradingTH - Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language English
  • Application code 01111
  • Maximum participants15
  • Open for exchange studentsNo
  • Only students with the course round in the programme overview.

Credit distribution

0113 Written and oral assignments 7.5 c
Grading: TH
7.5 c

In programmes

Examiner

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Eligibility

General entry requirements for Master's level (second cycle)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Specific entry requirements

English 6 (or by other approved means with the equivalent proficiency level)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Course specific prerequisites

This course is only available for students of the Maritime management master's programme.

Aim

The overall aim of the course is to provide the student with a deeper understanding of international maritime and commercial law, with emphasis on international trade, the purchase of transport and marine insurance. The student will also receive in-depth understanding of the technical and economic aspects related to the maritime industry.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

Knowledge and comprehension
- demonstrate adequate knowledge and corresponding level of comprehension of shipping and trade in the following areas of law,
- explain convention instruments and various standard form contracts used in international transportation of goods and carriage of goods by sea and multimodal transportation;
- show an understanding for marine insurance and general average according to the following:
  - H&M and P&I insurance;
  - needs of the shipping industry and the marine insurance industry;
  - detailed appreciation of Institute Clauses, International Hull Clauses including typical clauses in a marine insurance policy;
  - special clauses such as those relating to piracy cover, war-risks cover;
  - marine insurance legislation including the Marine Insurance Act, 1906 of the United Kingdom and Nordic Marine Insurance Plan;
  - relationship of marine insurance to pollution damage and salvage claims;
 - principles of general average and its relationship to the law of marine insurance including insurance and average adjustments.
 - the respective roles of international organizations and industry bodies involved in international commercial shipping.

Skills and abilities
- apply commercial and contract law principles and concepts to specific problems relating to international transportation of goods and their insurance aspects;
- carry out independent research on a chosen subject by integrating and analyzing information and materials and arriving at solutions to stated problems;

Judgement and approach

- critically analyze international conventions and other treaty instruments governing commercial shipping matters,
- examine, explain and discuss maritime issues from national, regional and international perspectives including their legal and economic implications.

Content

The course will cover two main subject areas, namely, the law relating to bills of lading and charterparties in the carriage of goods by sea, other contracts of carriage including multimodal transportation and law of marine insurance.

The principal object of this course will be to present the different aspects of international transportation of goods by sea and other transportation modes. The main convention instruments relating to carriage of goods by sea that will be addressed are the Hague/Hague-Visby Rules, Hamburg Rules and Rotterdam Rules. Instruments relating to multimodal transportation will be discussed. Various standard form contracts relating to charterparties will be discussed.

The course will also cover different legal aspects of the law of marine insurance at an advanced level. It includes detailed consideration of both hull and machinery (H&M) and protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance and the focus is placed on discussing legal issues from the perspectives of the marine insurance industry as well as the shipping industry. Detailed analysis, as may be appropriate, of Institute Clauses, International Hull Clauses and marine insurance legislation including those involving specialized cover such as war and piracy will be discussed by reference to relevant case law and scholarly writings. The role of marine insurance will also be examined in the extent of pollution damage and salvage claims from the perspectives of both H&M and P&I insurance. The course will extend to detailed consideration of principles of general average including the York Antwerp Rules and the relationship of that branch of maritime law to marine insurance, in particular, issues of insurance and average adjustments.

Organisation

The course consists of lectures and seminars.

Literature

To be announced on course home page.

Examination including compulsory elements

The course is examined through assessed seminars (20 % of the course), a take home exam (40 %) and a written exam (40 %).

A student must pass each component separately to obtain a pass grade for the course.

Assessed Seminar: In the assessed seminar students must be able to make individual oral presentations through group work to show evidence of sound knowledge and understanding of the specifically allocated task.
Take home exam: The examination will consist of objective knowledge based questions and a problem-solving exercises
Written Examination: This component consists of a three-hour open book written examination. The examination will consist of objective knowledge based questions, essay-type questions and problem-solving exercises

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.