The Law of Wreck

This book covers wreck law as an integrated whole, going beyond the question of “removal” and includes matters such as the ownership of wreck and how legal systems have dealt with private law rights after ships have been wrecked. It provides authoritative guidance on the genesis and meaning of the Nairobi Convention, as it applies both to States trying to use its powers and to shipowners and liability insurers faced by its provisions.There is detailed analysis of the genesis of the Convention, its drafting and the interpretation of its often complex provisions and explanation of the increasingly complex inter-relationship between linked areas of maritime law, including salvage, intervention and the overlapping international regimes which deal with oil pollution, bunker pollution and pollution from hazardous and noxious substances.The book also links the liability provisions with the standard form international commercial contracts actually used by the industry to remove wrecks and examines these contracts, including those such as BIMCO’s WRECKHIRE, WRECKFIXED and WRECKSTAGE) in respect to their relationship to the Convention.