Responsibility and Accountability in Maritime Law : Criminalisation of the Ship’s Master

Responsibility Accountability Maritime Law examines the phenomenon of criminalisation which confronts the Master in their professional conduct, both in terms of Flag State and Port State rights and obligations.

Responsibility Accountability Maritime Law examines the phenomenon of criminalisation which confronts the Master in their professional conduct, both in terms of Flag State and Port State rights and obligations. The fault lines of criminalisation, which go to the heart of the question, demand an understanding of how the concept of criminal justice has evolved to impose accountability on the Master, in circumstances which had not been crimes before. Since this book was first published, the maritime world has changed dramatically, requiring a new understanding of responsibility and accountability before the Master can make rational decisions to respond to the risk of criminalisation. While the basic theory of accountability for criminalisation and the sources of law provide the foundation, this second edition presents a new introduction to summarise the necessity for changes in structure in order to define the pre-existing law with which the Master must comply, acknowledging the re-emergence of risk in the Gulf in 2026, and the foreseeable emergence of risk in the Arctic as geopolitical pressures create uncertainty as to who will assert jurisdictional control in the management of merchant shipping in this region. The Sources of Law chapter has been expanded to address risk management in the context of current geopolitical turmoil, balancing company commitments with the safety of the ship and crew. New content includes detention of Masters and crew, the International Convention on Arrest of Ships, universal jurisdiction, and relevant case studies such as the M/T Heroic Idun. The book’s format meets the needs of lawyers, academics and maritime professionals, with the aim of analysing the character of criminalisation to determine the features which characterise the phenomenon in Port and Flag State contexts; it interrogates the aim to define the nature of criminalisation and identifies the constituent problems in such criminal accountability. Each chapter relies heavily on case studies to illustrate how the laws which reflect national policy underpinning those priorities are applied in practice. This structure enables an understanding of the problems in the criminal process, with a view to offering options for solutions. The book is directly relevant to a broad range of parties which includes lawyers, academics, P & I clubs, seafarers, shipowners, managers and agents, and national and international seafaring unions. The current law and cases have been verified up to June 2026.