On 27-28 May 2010, the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law (IISTL) hosted the Sixth European Colloquium on Maritime Law Research. The Colloquia are a series of biannual conferences organized by leading maritime law centers in Europe, in collaboration with the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law ( University of Oslo, Norway ) . These events date back to 2000 and have quickly established themselves as a premier academic forum within the field. As with its predecessors, the recent Colloquium at Swansea brought together academics from all regions of Europe to exchange ideas and debate over contemporary and problematic issues of maritime law.

 

 

 

Professor Richard Williams, IISTL, Swansea University, UK addressing the delegates

 

The theme of the Sixth Colloquium addressed one of the most important issues in modern shipping law, namely the implications to the industry and the development of the law of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (known as the Rotterdam Rules). The Rotterdam Rules will introduce significant changes to the existing legal regime relating to the carriage of goods – a number of which were explored within the Colloquium. In keeping with the ambitious scope of the new legal regime, the Colloquium adopted a multi-dimensional approach, examining both the legal text and the wider environmental, economic, insurance and commercial implications of the Rules.

The event provided a welcome opportunity for leading academics and specialists from universities and institutions throughout Europe to debate a series of key aspects concerning the operation of the Rotterdam Rules. A number of novel approaches were advanced, including discussion of documentary issues, environmental protection, aspects of industry liabilities and national perspectives on the Rules.

 

 

 

 

From left to right: Craig Neame (Partner, Homan Fenwick Willan, London, UK), Professor D.Rhidian Thomas (Director, IISTL, Swansea University , UK), Dr Ellen Eftestol Wilhelmsson ( University of Oslo, Norway),  Ms Olena Dobyko ( University of Lund, Sweden)

 

A number of distinguished speakers delivered papers at the Colloquium, including:

Abhinayan Basu, World Maritime University, Malmo, Sweden

Dr Richard Caddell, IISTL, Swansea University, UK

Professor Maarten Claringbould, University of Leyden, The Netherlands

Ms Olena Dobyko, University of Lund, Sweden

Kathleen Goddard, Plymouth University, UK

Professor Olga Fotinopoulou Basurko, University of the Basque Country, Spain

Professor Marc Huybrechts, Antwerp University, Belgium

Anastasiya Kozubovskaya-Pelle, University of Nantes, France

Professor Heike Lindpere, University Nord, Tallinn, Estonia

Dr Anders Moellmann, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Professor Proshanto Kumar Mukherjee, World Maritime University, Malmo, Sweden

Professor Francesco Munari, University of Genoa, Italy

Craig Neame, Partner, Homan Fenwick Willan, London, UK

Dr Theodora Nikaki, IISTL, Swansea University, UK

Professor Erik Rosaeg, SIML, University of Oslo, Norway

Frank Stevens, Roosendaal Keyzer Advocaaten, Antwerp, Belgium

Professor D.Rhidian Thomas, Director, IISTL, Swansea University , UK

Professor Vibe Ulfbeck, University of Copenhagen, Denmark/ University of Oslo, Norway

Professor Xose Manuel Carril Vasquez, University of Coruna, Spain

Dr Ellen Eftestol Wilhelmsson, University of Oslo, Norway

Professor Richard Williams, IISTL, Swansea University, UK

Richard Zwitser, Erasmus University, The Netherlands

 

Delegates attending the Colloquium

 

On both an academic and a social level the Colloquium was a great success, bringing together some 64 delegates who participated in very lively discussions and debates over the controversial new regime encompassed in the Rotterdam Rules. In examining some of the wider concepts engaged by the new Convention, the event helped to broaden the general understanding of a number of aspects of the Rotterdam rules at a time of critical importance to the international shipping industry.