Shipping Business Services
MARITIME LAW
2.1 Small craft registration and licensing
All small vessels that comply with the requirements of Section 16 of the Ship Registration Act, are entitled to be registered on the central register of ships. Regulations determine the procedures and requirements for such registration.
2.2 Maritime casualties and liabilities
A person who suffers loss or damage as a result of negligence or a wrongful act of another, whether in delict or in contract, may invoke the power of the law to claim damages designed to redress the wrong. South African law requires further that the damages resulting from one person's wrongdoing should have been both foreseeable and not too remote, for the perpetrator to be liable to the victim. A Plaintiff's recourse is further limited to certain types of damages and also by the duty to mitigate that loss. In maritime law, however, a ship owner, in appropriate circumstances, may limit its liability. This concept of limitation is well known throughout the maritime law. As a result of casualties, maritime claims arise and can be dealt with in terms of the Admiralty Jurisdiction Regulation Act. In terms of various other Acts, an owner or a master of a ship which has been involved in accidents has to submit a casualty report within twenty-four hours of arriving in port. In terms of the Merchant Shipping Act, four tribunals with the investigative powers may be established namely the Preliminary Inquiry, the Court of Marine Inquiry, the Maritime Court and the Court of Survey.