This publication is a comprehensive study of maritime law in South Africa since the Admiralty Regulation Act of 1983 broke the shackles of the limited reach of English colonial admiralty jurisdiction – which paradoxically then still applied in a republican South Africa. Yet shipping law in the new South Africa remains essentially an English common law regime operating, not uncomfortably, with a rich overlay of the Roman-Dutch civilian law.

In addition to the survey provided by the author, there are 33 appendices (covering almost 250 pages) providing readers with basic statutes and regulations, standard forms and other miscellaneous material that would be helpful in understanding the subject. 

• Admiralty jurisdiction and practice in one of the most active casualty and arrest forums in the maritime world
• Ship ownership, mortgage and registration
• Safety at sea, including the Safety Conventions, Port State Control, and the ISM Code
• Traditional English salvage law (viewed against the Salvage Convention), towage, pilotage and port operation
• The law of wreck, with particular emphasis on the interplay between occupatio and salvage in the light of decisions such as The Antipolis, The Central America and The Titanic
• The legal regime on merchant ships, including master and crew and the influence of the Maritime Labour Convention
• Carriage of goods by sea, focusing mainly on the Hague-Visby Rules, with a guide to cargo claims and defences, and including the salient features of the Rotterdam Rules
• Charterparties and claims, including the recent decisions of The Achillias and The Golden Victory
• Limitation of liability in carriage law and under the 1957 and 1976 conventions
• Marine pollution and the CLC and Fund Conventions
• The law of marine insurance, exploring extensively the common roots and synthesis of the English and civilian systems
• Supplementary material on CD-ROM: Including Part One of the book & over 100 appendices of source materials on local and international shipping law