IISTL Goes European

In May 2015, the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law (IISTL) organised a five-day advanced seminar in Athens in co-operation with Athens University Law School and the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law in Oslo, together with Dalian Maritime University in China.The objective  was to discuss and provide updates on recent developments in international maritime law to lawyers and academics alike. Held at the Evgenios Evgenides Foundation just outside Piraeus, the event attracted around two hundred, including a number of Swansea alumni. By common consent it was hailed as a great success, and it now seems set fair to become an annual fixture.

The Institute was there in force, being represented by Professors Baughen, Soyer, Tettenborn and Williams and by Associate Professor Nikaki. Papers given covered topics such as the incorporation of charterparty clauses in bills of lading, damages for breach of time charters, the impact of the Rotterdam Rules, letters of indemnity, rights to sub-freight, bareboat charters and fraudulent insurance claims.

Speaking after the event, Professor Soyer, Director of the IISTL, said:

“This seminar has been a triumph. It not only let us engage closely with practitioners and academics from other jurisdictions, but also enabled us to showcase the extraordinary talent we can call on. My colleagues delivered sophisticated papers over a wide area of law, capturing and retaining the audience's attention the whole time and provoking serious debate. And as if this was not enough, we were also delighted to encounter several Swansea LLM graduates in the audience who are now working very successfully in in a number of capacities in the shipping business in Piraeus. If this doesn't show that a Swansea LLM can take you places, I don't know what does!”

 

First published in 2015