Assessment 4: Coursework Essay / Legal Opinion on Maritime Law and Emerging Technologies (2,000–3,000 words)

Module and Assessment Overview

Module title: Maritime Law, Regulation and Governance
Assessment type: Individual coursework essay or legal opinion
Weighting: 30–40% of module grade (see module handbook)
Length: 2,000–3,000 words (excluding references and footnotes)
Submission format: Word-processed essay/legal opinion (DOCX or PDF) via the VLE/learning portal
Level: Final-year undergraduate / postgraduate taught (Level 6/7 equivalent)

Assessment Context

Contemporary maritime law and policy must absorb overlapping regulatory agendas that include cabotage protectionism, tightening labour and social standards under the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC, 2006), emissions and decarbonisation measures, and the legal disruption created by Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS). States seek to preserve control over domestic trades while complying with UNCLOS, WTO rules and regional integration commitments, at the same time as they renegotiate safety, labour, and environmental obligations in response to automation and climate targets. This assessment requires you to develop a structured legal argument on one selected theme, demonstrating doctrinal analysis, use of international and national sources, and an ability to connect legal reasoning with governance and policy implications.

Assessment Task

Task Description

Write a 2,000–3,000 word coursework essay or legal opinion on one of the following topics (or an approved equivalent):

1. Cabotage and coastal state sovereignty

   • Critically assess the compatibility of strict national cabotage regimes (for example the Jones Act model) with international law obligations under UNCLOS and relevant trade agreements, and evaluate whether cabotage protection can be reconciled with contemporary goals for efficient and sustainable shipping.

2. Maritime Labour Convention 2006 in practice

   • Analyse the effectiveness of the MLC, 2006 as the “fourth pillar” of the international maritime regulatory regime, focusing on implementation, enforcement and challenges in ensuring decent work at sea in an era of crewing pressures and new ship technologies.

3. Emissions regulation and decarbonisation

   • Evaluate the evolving legal framework for ship emissions and decarbonisation, considering IMO measures, regional schemes (for example EU ETS extension to maritime) and national initiatives, and discuss whether current approaches strike a defensible balance between environmental integrity, competitiveness and equity.

4. Autonomous ships and regulatory adaptation

   • Discuss whether existing international instruments, particularly UNCLOS and SOLAS, can adequately accommodate MASS, or whether new treaty instruments and national legislation are required to address issues of manning, responsibility, liability and seaworthiness.

5. Sanctions, trade controls and maritime governance

   • Critically examine how unilateral and multilateral sanctions regimes impact maritime trade, flag states and private actors, and assess whether current governance arrangements provide sufficient legal certainty and enforcement coherence.

Core Requirements

Your essay or legal opinion must:

i. State the question and scope clearly

• Formulate a precise research question or legal issue within your chosen topic.

• Define the jurisdictional and thematic scope (for example focus on a specific state, region, or set of instruments).

ii. Identify and analyse legal sources

• Engage with relevant international conventions (for example UNCLOS, SOLAS, MLC, 2006), regional instruments, national legislation and case law as appropriate.

• Use secondary sources (academic commentary, policy papers) to support interpretation and critique.

iii. Develop a coherent legal argument

• Construct a logically ordered argument that takes a clear position on the question, engages with competing views and supports conclusions with authority.

• Show awareness of conflicting objectives (for example sovereignty vs. liberalisation, labour protection vs. competitiveness, innovation vs. legal certainty).

iv. Address governance and policy dimensions

• Explain how the legal framework shapes behaviour of states, shipowners, seafarers and other actors.

• Consider institutional roles (IMO, ILO, regional bodies, courts, classification societies) and enforcement challenges.

v. Evaluate reform options or future directions

• Discuss plausible options for law or policy development (for example refinement of cabotage rules, improved MLC monitoring, dedicated MASS instruments, more integrated decarbonisation architecture).

Indicative Structure

• Title page (module, student ID, word count, chosen question)

• 1. Introduction and issue statement

• 2. Legal framework and sources

• 3. Analysis of key legal questions

• 4. Governance, enforcement and policy implications

• 5. Evaluation of reform options / future directions

• 6. Conclusion

• References (Harvard style; use footnotes if permitted by programme)

Formatting and Submission Requirements

• Word count: 2,000–3,000 words (excluding references and permitted footnotes). State word count on the cover sheet or title page.

• Font and spacing: 11- or 12-point font, 1.5 line spacing, standard margins.

• Citation style: Harvard referencing as standard; where your programme permits, legal footnote style is allowed but must be consistent.

• Sources: Minimum of 10–12 substantive sources including primary legal instruments and peer-reviewed or authoritative secondary materials.

• Academic integrity: Individual work only; all assistance and use of AI tools must comply with institutional regulations.

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Learning Outcomes Assessed

• LO1: Demonstrate detailed knowledge of selected areas of maritime law and regulation.

• LO2: Interpret and apply international and national legal instruments to concrete problems.

• LO3: Critically evaluate how legal frameworks interact with governance, policy and practice.

• LO4: Construct clear, well-supported legal arguments in written form.

• LO5: Identify plausible directions for legal and policy reform in maritime governance.

Marking Criteria and Scoring Rubric

The coursework essay / legal opinion will be marked out of 100 and contributes 30–40% of the module grade.

Cabotage regimes illustrate how coastal states continue to treat domestic sea transport as a core expression of sovereignty rather than as a fully liberalised service, even in an era of deep trade integration and global supply chains. While UNCLOS preserves the right of coastal states to regulate cabotage within their territorial sea, the breadth of many national regimes, such as the United States’ Jones Act model, sits uneasily alongside commitments under WTO rules and regional trade agreements that promote market access and non-discrimination in maritime services. Arguments that strict cabotage is necessary to protect national security, maintain a viable merchant fleet and secure decent labour conditions have some force, but they also risk entrenching inefficiencies, restricting competition and slowing the uptake of cleaner and more innovative tonnage if not periodically recalibrated against evolving environmental and technological objectives. A more nuanced approach that tightens labour and safety standards for all vessels engaged in domestic trades while allowing carefully structured market opening, subject to robust enforcement of MLC, 2006 and environmental obligations, would better align cabotage policy with contemporary goals for resilient and sustainable maritime transport.

The emergence of MASS introduces novel liability and insurance questions that are not yet fully addressed in existing maritime law. Legal frameworks must evolve to allocate responsibility clearly between manufacturers, operators, and flag states in cases of accidents or environmental incidents. Failing to clarify these responsibilities could undermine both commercial confidence and regulatory compliance, making proactive legal analysis and policy adaptation essential for effective governance (Yuan, 2021).

Learning Resources (Harvard Style)

• American Maritime Partnership (2018) Cabotage laws of the world. Available at: https://www.americanmaritimepartnership.com/studies/world-cabotage-study/

• Ministry of Transportation (2019) A summary of world cabotage practices. U.S. Department of Transportation report. Available at: https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/15947/dot_15947_DS1.pdf

• International Labour Organization (2024) Reporting on the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006. ITCILO course materials. Available at: https://www.itcilo.org/sites/default/files/media/course-documents/A9717088_ILSGEN_Reporting%20on%20the%20Maritime%20Labour%20Convention%2C%202006_EN.pdf

• Hederström, H. (2020) The Maritime Labour Convention 2006: Guide. Rood Boven Groen. Available at: https://www.roodbovengroen.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/MLC-gids.pdf

• Yuan, Y. (2021) A study on legal issues of unmanned ship maritime regulation. Master’s dissertation, World Maritime University. Available at: https://commons.wmu.se/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3356&context=all_dissertations

• RSI International (2022) Charting the course: analysing international cabotage and local regimes in contemporary maritime law. Available at: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/articles/charting-the-course-analyzing-international-cabotage-local-regime-in-the-contemporary-maritime-context/