ABOUT THE COURSE

This course team will deliver a blend of legal knowledge and commercial expertise including maritime law specialists and experienced seafarers guiding your development of practical real-world knowledge and skills to enhance your current or future career. With an innovative programme of studies reflecting current and future industry practice, the course is designed to ensure you will emerge with the perfect blend of skills and knowledge base demanded in the shipping industry.

Ideally suited to students working in the shipping industry who want to develop their understanding of how legal claims may arise within the context of international trade practice, this innovative law course delivers a first-class education in international trade, shipping and maritime law, focusing on the interrelationship between theory and commercial expertise.

Specifically designed to meet the demands of the shipping industry, the course delivers essential knowledge of the legal frameworks at the heart of shipping claims, disputes and commercial relationships.

Exploring how marine disputes and liabilities are investigated and managed, you will develop detailed understanding of this complex, specialised branch of the law. You will be equipped to advise on the merits of claims, and to communicate effectively with legal practitioners. You will also develop the professional grounding to apply that knowledge in the practical industry, and the analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills to respond with legal analysis of the challenges arising in the international trade industry.

Led by prominent industry speaker and maritime law academic Susan Hawker, the course team of experienced academics and legal practitioners including:

• Justin Draeger - Director, Mays Browns Solicitors

• Jack Hatcher - Shoreside Law Ltd

• Ruth Hosking - barrister, Quadrant Chambers

• Professor Filippo Lorenzon - Dalian Maritime University (China), and consultant Campbell Johnston Clark

• Ian MacLean - partner, Hill Dickinson LLP

• Andrew Preston - partner, Preston Turnbull LLP

• Professor Baris Soyer - Head of the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, Swansea University

Core Modules

Core modules

• Introduction to English Law
  The course is based on English law, which is a common law system of law. About 90% of the world’s trade is concluded on contracts governed by English law, which makes it the most relevant choice of law for the shipping industry.

• International Sale of Goods
  This module will introduce you to the first part of the legal “shipping picture” of which the entire course is comprised.

• Carriage of Goods by Sea
  The module introduces you to the topics of bills of lading and charterparties. These two topics together form the backbone of carriage of goods by sea.

• Admiralty and Marine Insurance
  This module will introduce students to the “bigger picture” of the shipping liabilities that surround the international sale and carriage contracts studied in the previous two modules.

• Marine Dispute Management
  This module rounds off the course with a focus on how claims are brought and the underlying considerations which must be faced in the management of dispute resolution.

English Language Requirements

Applicants who do not have English as their first language will be required to demonstrate an approved level of proficiency in the use of the English language. The agreed minimum requirements for this course are:

• IELTS 6.0 with no component score below 5.5

• TOEFL IBT minimum 80 with a minimum of 20 in each individual component

• Duolingo English Language Test - 100 overall with minimum of 90 in each component

• or equivalent.

Qualifications are checked before enrolment, and international students must bring their original certificates or certified copies when coming to study at the University.

Admission Requirements

Applicants must hold one of the following:

• Honours degree in a relevant maritime subject, such as maritime studies, shipping, maritime business or law, or other appropriate subject and relevant professional qualification and experience.

• Certificate of Competency as Master or Chief Engineer, Class 1 Master Mariner, Class 1 Engineer, STCW Management Level Qualifications, or equivalent, and work experience in the maritime industry to a reasonable level of management responsibility, such as Master, Chief Officer, Chief Engineer, First Engineer or equivalent.

• Higher National Diploma or Foundation Degree in a maritime/law discipline plus extensive experience and relevant professional qualifications (as above).