Foreword
If there were any doubts left about maritime law being a dynamic system, this
exciting new book extinguishes such doubts quite firmly. For many of us, who
have worked in the maritime sector during long and varied careers, it has also been
quite clear for some time that maritime law has moved from its ancient, but rather
narrowly defined, antecedents into a much broader perspective that today encompasses almost everything connected to the sea—no matter how remote. That is how it
should be. After all the ocean system cannot really be viewed, studied or regulated in
neatly compartmentalized sectors as most, if not all, maritime sectors interact and
often affect one another. This has not always been entirely clear from the voluminous literature in the area that, to a great extent, still follows the more traditional
sectoral system.
Maritime Law in Motion very much breaks this pattern and is likely the first
publication to clearly achieve this. Given the wide variety, extensive experience and
skilled research of the 45 contributing authors, this is not surprising at all. For me, at
the end of a very lengthy career in the maritime sector, this also provides an
especially double delight in writing a Foreword. Firstly, the book provides a very
significant and much-needed new direction in the maritime law area, especially in its
focus on the importance of interdisciplinary approaches. However, secondly, I find it
extremely satisfying that most of the authors are known to me as former students,
colleagues and collaborators who have become distinguished scholars, practitioners
and teachers in their own right. As a result, I would have not expected anything less
than a first-class, innovative, far-reaching and thoughtful publication from this
group, who clearly lead a new generation of maritime specialists. Furthermore,
although the more traditional maritime literature generally originated in Europe
and the United States, this book is compiled by authors from 22 countries, covering
all parts of the global maritime world. This is a very positive development that
illustrates the truly global reach of our industry.
As already indicated, the scope of this book is ambitious and exhaustive. Even
though many of the chapters break new ground, the more traditional aspects of
international maritime law, such as the law of the sea, carriage of goods, marine
insurance, arbitration, protection of the marine environment and marine collisions
vii
If there were any doubts left about maritime law being a dynamic system, this
exciting new book extinguishes such doubts quite firmly. For many of us, who
have worked in the maritime sector during long and varied careers, it has also been
quite clear for some time that maritime law has moved from its ancient, but rather
narrowly defined, antecedents into a much broader perspective that today encompasses almost everything connected to the sea—no matter how remote. That is how it
should be. After all the ocean system cannot really be viewed, studied or regulated in
neatly compartmentalized sectors as most, if not all, maritime sectors interact and
often affect one another. This has not always been entirely clear from the voluminous literature in the area that, to a great extent, still follows the more traditional
sectoral system.
Maritime Law in Motion very much breaks this pattern and is likely the first
publication to clearly achieve this. Given the wide variety, extensive experience and
skilled research of the 45 contributing authors, this is not surprising at all. For me, at
the end of a very lengthy career in the maritime sector, this also provides an
especially double delight in writing a Foreword. Firstly, the book provides a very
significant and much-needed new direction in the maritime law area, especially in its
focus on the importance of interdisciplinary approaches. However, secondly, I find it
extremely satisfying that most of the authors are known to me as former students,
colleagues and collaborators who have become distinguished scholars, practitioners
and teachers in their own right. As a result, I would have not expected anything less
than a first-class, innovative, far-reaching and thoughtful publication from this
group, who clearly lead a new generation of maritime specialists. Furthermore,
although the more traditional maritime literature generally originated in Europe
and the United States, this book is compiled by authors from 22 countries, covering
all parts of the global maritime world. This is a very positive development that
illustrates the truly global reach of our industry.
As already indicated, the scope of this book is ambitious and exhaustive. Even
though many of the chapters break new ground, the more traditional aspects of
international maritime law, such as the law of the sea, carriage of goods, marine
insurance, arbitration, protection of the marine environment and marine collisions
vii