Maritime Law
Maritime Law
Antwerp Maritime Academy is proud to present its unique programme on Maritime Law from 2 May to 17 May 2023.
Most lectures will be held at the Academy. Due to last year’s success, however, we will continue to offer participation online via the Academy’s electronic platform.
A wide variety of selected topics is addressed. They cover a large and diverse area of maritime law, both from a legal and a practical point of view, covering both Law of the Sea and Admiralty Law (in European continental parlance, both private law and public law aspects). Week 1 (as of 2 May) is dedicated to Law of the Sea (supervised and presided by Prof. Em. Eduard Somers), Week 2 (as of 8 May) and Week 3 (as of 15 May) are reserved for Admiralty Law (supervised by Prof. Ralph De Wit). Topics include (inter alia) aspects of the new Belgian Shipping Code, carriage of goods by sea, chartering, limitation of liability for shipowners, ship finance, insurance aspects, arrest and judicial sale of vessels, joint surveys in maritime disputes, ISPS, disciplinary actions, safety issues…
Antwerp Maritime Academy is a bilingual institution for Dutch-speaking and French-speaking students. For practical reasons, the present courses are all in English. With a few exceptions, practically all speakers are native Dutch speakers, and hence any questions by outside participants can also be answered in that language.
Registration
> register here, mentioning the lecture(s) you wish to attend.
Registration fees apply:
-
€ 175,00 for a half day programme
-
€ 300,00 for a full day programme
-
Students (studying in Belgium) participate for free. Mention your Belgian student ID.
Below you will find a preliminary programme based on last year’s, subject to changes and to speaker availability.
Course materials consist of slide presentations and/or texts, and some background documentation.
Professional training credits (OVB) will be available for Belgian lawyers and (if possible) for other professions with training requirements.
Programme
WEEK 1 – LAW OF THE SEA
Tuesday 2 May
10:30-11:30
Setting the scene: recap of the Law of the Sea
Em. Prof. Dr. Eddy Somers
University of Ghent (ret.), President Royal Belgian Marine Society
14:00-15:00
Influencing and harmonising role of EU Maritime Transport Law
University of Ghent (ret.), President Royal Belgian Marine Society
15:30-16:45
Maritime Accident Investigation
Capt. Hans De Veene, M.Sc.
Federal Bureau for the Investigation of Marine Accidents, Marine Accident Investigator
17:00-18:30
Aspects of criminal law regarding master and crew
Wednesday 3 May
9:30-10:30
Security in Port: ISPS
Capt. Dirk Vernaeve
Former Port Commander, Port of Ghent
10:30-11:30
Security-related incidents – Piracy
FKP (R) Walter Verstrepen
Elegis Law Offices (Brussels), Solicitor England and Wales
11:45-12:30
Access for Ships into foreign State territory – Safety first? Security first?
14:00-15:00
Security-related incidents – Unlawful acts at sea in areas beyond coastal state jurisdiction: outsourcing prosecution for alleged pirates?
15:30-17:00
The role of the Belgian Navy with respect to incidents at sea
Corvette Capt. Ilja Van Hespen
Belgian Navy
Thursday 4 May
10:00-17:00
Marine insurance aspects of incidents at sea
Mr. Franck Dollfus
Lawyer/Legal Counsel – Asterias Avocats, Lecturer Assurances Maritimes, Université Le Havre Normandie
Friday 5 May
10:00-11:30
Disciplinary law regarding master and crew
Mr. Paul De Baets
Honorary President Court of Appeal Antwerp, President of the Belgian Maritime Disciplinary Board
12:00-13:00
Civil law in case of incidents at sea – Compensation and liability for marine pollution
13:30-15:30
Safety-related incidents – Contingency planning
Safety-related incidents – Pollution combating operations
Pollution Offences
Mr. Ronny Schallier
Counter Pollution Officer MUMM (OD Nature-RBINS), Team leader of Belgian North Sea aerial survey programme, BELSPO representative (scientific advisor) in Belgian Coastguard structure and Bonn Agreement
16:00-17:30
Jurisdiction of the Port Commander in Belgian Ports
Capt. Mario Calbert
Port Commander, Port of Ostend
WEEKS 2–3 – ADMIRALTY LAW
Monday 8 May
13:30-15:30
Deck Cargo in the New Belgian Shipping Code
Prof. Dr. Ralph De Wit
Attorney at Antwerp, Antwerp Maritime Academy, University of Brussels (VUB)
Tuesday 9 May
Multimodal Carriage of Goods (Part 1)
Prof. Dr. Ralph De Wit
Attorney at Antwerp, Antwerp Maritime Academy, University of Brussels (VUB)
16:00-18:00
Joint Surveys in Maritime Disputes and the Nautical Commission
Capt. Jeroen Weyn
Nautical Commission Antwerp
Wednesday 10 May
10:00-12:00
Arrest of Ships
Mr. André Kegels
Senior Partner, Kegels & Co Law Offices
14:00-16:00
Limitation of Liability for Shipowners: overall review of the LLMC Convention and LLMC application examples in Belgium
Prof. Dr. Frank Stevens
Erasmus University Rotterdam
16:30-18:30
Judicial Sale of Ships
Mr. Benoit Goemans
Senior Partner, Goemans De Scheemaecker & De Wit Law Offices
Thursday 11 May
10:00-13:00
The Belgian Shipping Code: Brief History and Some Recent Changes
Prof. Dr. Ralph De Wit
Attorney at Antwerp, Antwerp Maritime Academy, University of Brussels (VUB)
16:00-18:00
Container Demurrage and Insurance Cover
Mr. Justice Frank Vennekens
Judge in the Company Court (Ondernemingsrechtbank) Antwerp
Mr. Jef Gorrebeeck
Fellow and Academic Assistant, Law Faculty University of Brussels (VUB)
Friday 12 May
9:00-13:00
Multimodal Carriage of Goods (Part 2)
Prof. Dr. Ralph De Wit
Attorney at Antwerp, Antwerp Maritime Academy, University of Brussels (VUB)
(Continued from 9 May)
Monday 15 May
10:30-13:00
Ship Finance: Selected Topics
Mrs. Birgitta Van Itterbeek
Attorney, GDS Advocaten
14:00-16:00
Marine Insurance: Cargo
Mr. Jef Gorrebeeck
Fellow Law Faculty University of Brussels (VUB)
16:00-18:00
Chartering Practice
Mr. Peter Laurijssen
Chief Legal Officer CMB, Member Documentary Committee BIMCO, Editor in Chief European Transport Law (ETL), Fellow Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers
Tuesday 16 May
9:00-9:50
Uniform Interpretation and Application of Commercial Law
Prof. Dr. Marc L. Hendrikse (online presentation)
Open University of The Netherlands – University of Amsterdam
10:00-12:00
The Merchant Clause in Maritime Transport Documents
Prof. Dr. Ralph De Wit
Attorney at Antwerp, Antwerp Maritime Academy, University of Brussels (VUB)
14:00-16:00
Ship Finance: Selected Topics
Mr. Carlo Corcione (online presentation) (to be confirmed)
Managing Director, D’Amato Shipping
16:00-18:00
The Nautical Fault, Fire, and Peril of the Sea Exceptions in the HVR. Salvage. Some Practical Considerations
Dr. Nicholas Margetson
Senior Partner, MMRL Law Offices, Rotterdam
Wednesday 17 May
10:00-12:00
General Average: The York-Antwerp Rules
Prof. Dr. Ralph De Wit
Attorney at Antwerp, Antwerp Maritime Academy, University of Brussels (VUB)
Closed session for students only
14:00-16:00
Freight Forwarding Practice
Mr. Marc Huybrechts
Forward Belgium, CLECAT, Chairman FIATA World Congress 2021 (Brussels)
16:00-18:00
Freight Forwarding: Selected Legal Topics
Mr. Adry Poelmans
Senior Partner, Van Doosselaere Advocaten, Antwerp
Closed session for students only