Skip to main content

The maritime law in Oman



The Maritime law of the Sultanate of Oman is contained in the Royal Decreed 35/81, which has 392 clauses altogether. The Port and Maritime Affairs sector works under the Ministry of Transport and Communication. Currently, Dr. Ahmad Mohammed Salem Al-Futaisi, is the minister for the Ministry of Transport and Communication. The maritime law of Oman has covered the variety of topics on the subject of maritime. It deals with the registration and ownership of the vessel. Furthermore, it mentions the provisions relating to the licensing requirements of the vessel. Besides, the law mentions about the relation between owner,  master and vessels' crew. Going further, it focuses on the relation between master and crew of the vessel, as well as the obligations and the responsibilities of master and crew for each other. On the other hand, the maritime law deals with maritime mortgages, liens and attachments of vessel.

Besides the maritime law, the regime relating to the navigation in the territorial water is contained in the Law of the Organization of Maritime Navigation in Territorial Waters, the Royal Decree 98/81. Furthermore, to some extent the Commercial Law of Oman, the Royal Decree 55/90 also covers the provision of maritime related matters in certain areas. For example, the commercial law mentions the legal matter on the subject of contracts of carriage by sea with relation to goods as well as people. Moreover, it also focuses on the law related to the port of shipment sales, cost insurance and freight sales (CIF) and free of board sales (FOB).  Parallel to that the commercial law includes the chartering of equipped and unequipped vessels; the contracts of affreightment; carriage of persons; pilotage and towage, marine accidents, collisions aid and rescue. The commercial law also emphasis on the issue of marine related insurance matters. For example, it mentioned insurance policies, depositing goods, and liabilities requiring insurance and settlement of damages.

Among other nations, Oman is signatory of more than 30 maritime related international accords, those belong to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), International Hydrographic Organization and the United Nation (UN); for example, SOLAS, STCW, MAR-POL and ISPS code.  


Resources:
1. The Maritime Law, Royal Decree 35/81
2. Oman Commercial Law, Royal Decree 55/90
3. The Law Governing Maritime Navigation In Territorial Waters, Royal Decree 98/81
4. Port Services Corporation, Port Sultan Qaboos <http://www.pscoman.com/Portals/0/brochure/ENGLISH.SWF> accessed 7 January 2015
5. Shipid.com, New maritime law in final stages, 30 Sep, 2011 <http://www.shipid.com/news/101823/New_maritime_law_in_final.html>  accessed 7 January 2015 
6.Eugene Cotran & Chibli Mallat (ed), Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (1st Vol, Kluwer Law International 1994)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hawala money transfer: An introduction

Hawala is defined as a system to transfer money across border  ‘…based on trust and operating through network based … on regional or ethnic affiliation rather than through banks and financial institutions’ . [1] In other words it is defined as a system which transfers money around the world without any actual money movement. [2] The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), quotes number of terms to refer to hawala, such as (i) as informal funds transfer ; (ii) alternative remittance; (iii) underground or parallel banking ; (v) a relationship; or (iv) intermediary banking. [3] In Arabic language, the term ‘hawala’ means ‘change’ or ‘transform’; by contrast, in Hindi or Urdu it refers to ‘trust’; the terms ‘hawala’ and ‘hundi’ are also used in India and Pakistan interchangeably. [4]   It is said that the hawala money transfer functions as a financial services provider in those remote parts of the world where normally the banking systems are unreachable. [5] Besides, other v...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bankruptcy Tourism & UK

The term ‘bankruptcy’, defined as a procedure by which debtors obtain financial relief and undergo a judicially supervised liquidation of the debtor's assets for the benefit of creditors. It is also known as a state of a person who has been adjudged by a court to be insolvent. Then the court orders the compulsory administration of a bankrupt’s affair so that his assets can be fairly distributed among his creditors. Whereas, the term ‘Bankruptcy Tourism’ refers to a process by which both, corporation and individuals (more oftenly foreign) publicize their insolvency in the jurisdiction of their choice. [1] Alternatively, the terminology is also known as ‘forum shopping’. [2] The law of insolvency varies country wise. Because of that the debtors wish to choose the place of their choice to declare their bankruptcy aiming to take advantage of the most lenient law of insolvency. By doing so they abuse the legal system of that country and get rid of the creditors.    In par...
1 comment
Read more