International Regulation of Shipping

CIL Course for MPA Officers

Graciously held at the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) Academy, from 16 Jan 2024 to 9 Apr 2024, Prof Beckman and Joel Ong organized a 12-week course on the International Regulation of Shipping examining the international rules in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and in International Maritime Organization (IMO) conventions and instruments setting out the rights and duties of flag States, port States and coastal States with respect to the safety of maritime navigation, the prevention of pollution from ships and the security of commercial shipping.

This course was designed to show MPA officers how the IMO rules fit within the wider legal regime governing the rights and obligations of States with regard to commercial shipping, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. About 50 to 60+ officers from MPA and other relevant government agencies including the Attorney General's Chambers and Ministry of Foreign Affairs had registered to attend each week, and the feedback from participants was that the course helped to better understand how their work fits into the wider issues relating to the regulation of shipping, and the role of the IMO and its Conventions and their relationship to the Law of the Sea.

Most also found the course materials to be potentially useful references for their work, and that the discussions were useful and insightful. They reflected that selected issues taught which were of particular interest and relevance to them were i) climate change-related aspects of the IMO and alternative fuels, ii) IMO and Maritime Safety, and iii) Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships.