Responsibility and Accountability in Maritime Law

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.

Simon Daniels is a qualified solicitor specialising in criminal and maritime litigation, before bringing his professional background to the academic field at Solent University, where he managed the law and business parts of the MCA-accredited Merchant Vessel Operations programme at Warsash Maritime Academy. Simon has a particular interest in the field of the criminalisation of the ship's master and, in 2012, was awarded a PhD for his thesis on the subject. In August 2019, Simon left Solent and established a new career in maritime research and consultancy. He designed and delivered on-line courses for the Nautical Institute, most notably in criminalisation.

1 Introduction. 2 Sources of Law. 3 What Is A Crime. 4 Criminal Accountability For Negligence. 5 Criminalisation and Seafarers' Rights: Problems and Solutions. 6 The Master and the Ship. 7 The Risk Business. 8 Port State Sovereignty - What Could Possibility Go Wrong? 9 The Risk Society and Environmental Protection. 10 Pollution and Criminalisation. 11 Salvage and the Environment. 12 Management Control by thy Flag State. 13 Investigations, Evidence adn Self-Incrimination. 14 The Foundations of Sentencing: Culpability and Harm. 15 Occupational Hazards. 16 Polar Maritime Operations. 17 Compolsory Pilotage: Who Takes The Blame. 18 Practical Guidance.