Blockchain technology will usher in a new age in container shipping by dematerialising legal documentation such as bills of lading and marine insurance policies. The research will explore whether its use is compatible with existing legal framework.

This research examines the effect of recent developments in the offshore oil and gas industry, in particular the wave of insolvencies and corporate rehabilitations arising out of persistent low oil prices, on the efficacy of knock-for-knock provisions generally found in offshore construction contracts, towage contracts, and charterparties, in managing, allocating and underwriting risks. The research considers the need for revision to the industry standard provisions and the imperative for legislative reform in jurisdictions, such as Singapore, where there is a large offshore oil and gas exploration and extraction sector.

Working Paper

This project examines the future legal opportunities and challenges presented by the use of automated technology and unmanned vessels in international shipping. The project involves assessing the current domestic and international legal regimes, with respect to safe manning levels. It also considers why the proposed autonomous ships will struggle to provide the functional equivalent of the shipmaster and, how, or if, these vessels can comply with compulsory pilotage. At an international level, the project will evaluate what jurisdictional issues may arise and whether the current limitation regimes for maritime claims may be relied upon in the event of an incident involving an unmanned or autonomous ship. The project is assessing these issues from an Asian common law and commonwealth perspective, with a particular emphasis on Singapore's legislative framework.

Working Paper

The aim of the CML CMI database of judicial decisions on international maritime conventions is to make these decisions more accessible to the worldwide maritime community, in the hope that this will foster comparative research and uniformity of interpretation of international maritime law. This project, which is undertaken and hosted by the Centre for Maritime Law of the National University of Singapore in collaboration with the Comité Maritime International, builds on the foundation laid by Francesco Berlingieri in his earlier CMI database of jurisprudence on maritime conventions.