Highlights
CML Working Paper: The Appropriate Forum for Collision Actions
CML Research Associate Navid Hatamipour's paper, 'The Appropriate Forum for Collision Actions' is now online. The jurisdiction of courts over collision actions is frequently challenged. Several factors encourage parties to make every effort to have their claim heard by their preferred forum. The difference in limitation regimes is the most decisive factor. This paper compares several sets of national and international rules applicable to collision actions and evaluates them against four criteria: certainty, fairness, comity, and saving in time and costs. It concludes that most of these rules fail to satisfy these criteria.
NUS Law congratulates Lin Jiasheng ’25, Nur Namirah Binte Abdul Rahim ’25, Jeremy Lok Jie Kang ’26 and Bryan Liow Jia Rong ’26, who represented NUS Law at the 25th International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot (IMLAM) competition held from 6th to 11th July 2025 (IMLAM 2025) in Sydney. The NUS Law team fought their way to the Grand Finals, where they emerged as the runners-up. Dedi Affandi bin Ahmad ’10, Partner at Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, a member of the victorious NUS team in 2010, coached the team, assisted by Wu Muyu ’22, a former IMLAM team member and member of the runner-up team in 2022, now Associate at Incisive Law LLC, and Wong Weitao ’22, Associate at Helmsman LLC.
Former CML Research Associate Elson Ong awarded PhD at NUS
The Centre for Maritime Law (CML) congratulates our former Research Associate, Elson Ong, on being conferred his PhD at the National University of Singapore on 11 July 2025. Dr Elson Ong ’25 completed his PhD under the supervision of Professor Stephen Girvin, Centre Director of CML and MPA Professor of Maritime Law. His thesis topic was: ‘Digitalising Commercial Shipping: The Relevance of Trust’, and he was examined by Professor Jason Chuah FRSA SFHEA and Professor (elect) Simone Lamont-Black.
CML Seminar Series: Fair Presentation of the Risk in the Twenty-First Century
Visiting Professor James Davey conducted CML’s first AY25/26 public seminar on 28 August 2025 titled, “Fair Presentation of the Risk in the Twenty-First Century” at The Executive Centre, Level 4, Ocean Financial Centre. Professor James Davey, a Professor of Law at the University of Bristol and President of the British Insurance Law Association, provided an overview of the changes brought about by the Insurance Act 2015 (UK) and introduced the various choice of law arrangements adopted by the marine insurance industry as well as recent decisions that showcased how the courts dealt with the question of inducement. The seminar was moderated by Professor Stephen Girvin, MPA Professor of Maritime Law and Director of CML.
CML Working Paper: Law and Practice of Ship Arrest in Russia
CML Research Associate Bulat Karimov's paper deals with ship arrest in Russia from a legislative and practical perspective. The paper presents and analyses the statistics of arrest proceedings from 2020 to 2024. Several problems are emphasised, such as the violation of time limits stipulated by procedural law, difficulty in assessing the amount of alternative security, the possible unjustified outcomes of applying the proportionality requirement, and the effect of political sanctions. The paper questions whether the ship arrest has a legal nature distinct from other preliminary remedies and whether these peculiarities deserve special regulation in Russian law.
CML Seminar Series: Evaluating the Experience of the UNIDROIT (Cape Town) Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment 2001
This seminar critically examines the remedial regime of the UNIDROIT Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment 2001. The Convention is an international legal regime for the creation, registration and enforcement of ‘international interests’ in the aircraft, railway, space, mining, agriculture and construction equipment. The financing and leasing of these types of equipment, which can be accomplished by a secured loan, conditional sale or lease, can be a risky investment. The Convention seeks to reduce the creditors’ risks and increase the availability of financing of such objects. (Early Bird Extended to 13 September 2025)