The office of the master of a vessel : its legal significance

Abstract

Harmonisation in the field of Maritime Law, especially through international conventions is a sine quo non necessity in modern times. The Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act 1949, the Brussels Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage 1969, the York-interop Rules 1974 on Average, and the United Notions Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea 1978, known as the 'Hamburg Rules' (to quote only a few examples) bear witness to the rapid development occurring i:n the whole corpus of international Maritime Law. English and Scandinavian laws are perhaps the model patterns to follow in Merchant Shipping legislation. The Maltese legislature tried to follow in their footsteps by, for example, the enactment of' the M.S.A. 1973, which was modelled not only on the British Merchant Shipping Acts but incorporated also various international rules and conventions. However, this is not to say (if I may quote Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' ) that all is well in the state of Denmark'. Since the date of the enactment of the Maltese M.S.A. 1973, much water has flown under the bridge in both continental and Anglo-Saxon legislation and there are various new international rules being proposed by international bodies.