About This Course
The maritime industry operates within one of the most complex and internationally regulated legal environments in the world. From the carriage of goods by sea to collision liability, pollution incidents, and cargo damage disputes, professionals working in shipping, logistics, insurance, and trade must navigate a dense web of conventions, domestic statutes, contractual frameworks, and industry practices. Errors in understanding or applying maritime law can expose organisations to significant financial loss, reputational damage, and protracted litigation.
This five-day Maritime Law, Insurance and Claims Training programme delivered by TrainingComplex provides a structured and practical grounding in the core pillars of maritime legal practice. Participants will examine the foundational principles of admiralty law, the key international conventions governing carriage of goods and vessel operations, and the contractual instruments that underpin global seaborne trade. The programme then turns to marine insurance — covering hull and machinery, protection and indemnity, cargo policies, and the principles of indemnity, subrogation, and utmost good faith — before walking delegates through the full lifecycle of a maritime claim from incident notification through to settlement or arbitration.
Designed for practitioners who need both legal literacy and commercial acumen, the course draws heavily on real-world incidents, landmark cases, and current industry practice. Delegates will leave with the confidence to read and negotiate maritime contracts, assess insurance coverage, manage claims effectively, and engage constructively with lawyers, underwriters, surveyors, and arbitrators. Whether you are deepening your expertise or expanding into maritime work from an adjacent field, this programme provides the knowledge and frameworks to operate at a higher level in one of the world's most dynamic industries.
Who Should Attend
- Shipping company executives, operations managers, and fleet managers
- Marine underwriters, claims handlers, and insurance brokers
- Port authority officials and harbour masters
- Freight forwarders, logistics managers, and customs practitioners
- Legal professionals advising shipping, trade, or insurance clients
- Cargo owners, traders, and commodity importers and exporters
- P&I Club correspondents and average adjusters
- Procurement and supply chain managers handling sea freight
- Government officials in maritime regulatory and port administration roles
- In-house counsel and compliance officers in shipping and logistics firms
Learning Objectives
- Explain the foundational principles of admiralty and maritime law and the hierarchy of applicable international conventions
- Interpret key international instruments including the Hague-Visby Rules, Hamburg Rules, Rotterdam Rules, SOLAS, and MARPOL
- Analyse standard maritime contracts including bills of lading, charterparties, and ship sale and purchase agreements
- Apply the principles of marine insurance including insurable interest, utmost good faith, indemnity, and subrogation
- Distinguish between hull and machinery, protection and indemnity, and cargo insurance policies and their respective scope of cover
- Assess liability frameworks for collision, general average, salvage, and wreck removal under international conventions
- Manage the end-to-end lifecycle of a marine cargo or hull claim from incident notification through survey to settlement
- Draft and evaluate notices of claim, letters of protest, and reservation of rights correspondence
- Navigate dispute resolution options including arbitration under LMAA rules, mediation, and litigation in admiralty courts
- Recognise emerging issues in maritime law including cyber risk, autonomous vessels, and environmental liability under the IMO 2023 strategy
Course Modules
Module 1: Foundations of Maritime Law and Admiralty Jurisdiction
- Origins and development of admiralty law and its relationship to commercial law
- Sources of maritime law: domestic statutes, international conventions, and industry custom
- Jurisdiction of admiralty courts and recognition of foreign maritime judgments
- The role of flag state, port state, and coastal state authority in maritime regulation
- In rem and in personam actions: procedural distinctions and strategic considerations for claimants
- The doctrine of maritime liens: ranking, attachment, and extinction by time or transfer of ownership
Module 2: International Conventions Governing Carriage of Goods by Sea
- The Hague Rules, Hague-Visby Rules, and Hamburg Rules: scope, carrier obligations, and liability limits
- The Rotterdam Rules: multimodal transport, electronic documents, and shipper duties
- Carrier defences: nautical fault, fire, act of God, and inherent vice
- Comparative analysis of convention regimes and their application in different jurisdictions
- Package and unit limitation calculations under each regime and the impact of shipper misdeclaration on liability caps
- Time bar provisions across the convention regimes and the consequences of failing to give timely notice of loss or damage
Module 3: Bills of Lading, Sea Waybills, and Freight Contracts
- Functions of the bill of lading: receipt, evidence of contract, and document of title
- Negotiability, endorsement, and delivery against original bills
- Sea waybills, electronic bills of lading, and the Bolero and ESSDOCS platforms
- Freight payment obligations, lien clauses, and deadfreight disputes
- Switched bills of lading and back-dated bills: legal risks, fraud exposure, and carrier liability
- Incorporation of charterparty terms into bills of lading and the consequences for third-party holders
Module 4: Charterparties: Voyage, Time, and Bareboat
- Structure and key clauses of voyage charterparties: laytime, demurrage, and despatch
- Time charterparties: hire payment, off-hire events, and redelivery obligations
- Bareboat and demise charters: registration, manning, and operational responsibility
- Charterparty dispute triggers and standard arbitration clauses
- Substitution, subchartering, and privity issues arising in multi-charter chain disputes
- Frustration and force majeure in charterparties: when contractual performance is legally excused and the allocation of financial consequences
Module 5: Ship Sale and Purchase, Registration, and Mortgages
- The memorandum of agreement: Norwegian Saleform and its key conditions
- Ship inspections, sea trials, and the passage of risk on delivery
- Vessel registration, flag state requirements, and change of flag procedures
- Maritime mortgages, preferred ship mortgages, and enforcement by arrest
- Representations and warranties in ship sale contracts: consequences of undisclosed encumbrances and class deficiencies
- The role of the ship broker and legal counsel in managing completion logistics, notices of readiness, and cancellation rights
Module 6: Marine Insurance: Principles and Policy Structure
- Insurable interest, the duty of utmost good faith, and the duty of fair presentation
- Indemnity, contribution, subrogation, and proximate cause in marine insurance
- Structure of the marine insurance market: Lloyd's of London, P&I clubs, and company markets
- The Marine Insurance Act 1906 and its continuing relevance to modern policy interpretation
- Warranties and conditions in marine policies: the impact of the Insurance Act 2015 on breach and remedy
- Broker duties in the placement process: disclosure obligations, coverage advice, and management of co-insurance arrangements
Module 7: Hull and Machinery and Protection and Indemnity Insurance
- Institute Hull Clauses: perils insured, exclusions, and franchise versus deductible
- Total loss, constructive total loss, and the notice of abandonment
- P&I club cover: crew liability, pollution, cargo claims, and collision liability
- The International Group of P&I Clubs: pooling agreements and reinsurance arrangements
- The Running Down Clause and the three-fourths collision liability provision: interaction between hull and P&I cover
- Drydock, repair cost management, and the role of the attending underwriter's surveyor in claim quantification
Module 8: Cargo Insurance and Average
- Institute Cargo Clauses A, B, and C: all risks versus named perils
- Warehouse-to-warehouse cover, transit clauses, and special cargo endorsements
- Particular average, general average, and the York-Antwerp Rules 2016
- Subrogation rights of cargo insurers and recovery actions against carriers
- Valuation of cargo losses: insured value versus market value and the treatment of under-insurance
- Duty of assured to minimise loss: sue and labour obligations, associated expenses, and insurer contribution
Module 9: Maritime Liability: Collision, Salvage, and Pollution
- Collision liability under the COLREGs and apportionment of fault
- Salvage law under the International Convention on Salvage 1989: LOF and SCOPIC
- Wreck removal obligations under the Nairobi Convention 2007
- Pollution liability: CLC, FUND Convention, Bunkers Convention, and MARPOL enforcement
- Limitation of liability under the LLMC 1976 and its 1996 Protocol: constitution of the limitation fund and breaking the limit
- Port state detention and flag state casualty investigation: interaction between enforcement proceedings and civil liability exposure
Module 10: Marine Claims Management and Dispute Resolution
- Incident response: notices of claim, letters of protest, and evidence preservation
- Survey process: appointment of average adjusters, cargo surveyors, and independent experts
- Dispute resolution pathways: LMAA arbitration, English High Court admiralty proceedings, and mediation
- Emerging issues: cyber risk in maritime claims, autonomous vessel liability, and ESG-related insurance exclusions
- Quantification and documentation of claims: preparing a well-pleaded claim file including commercial invoices, outturn reports, and expert opinions
- Security for maritime claims: vessel arrest strategy, letters of undertaking from P&I clubs, and cross-border enforcement of arbitral awards
Requirements & Prerequisites
Participants should have at least two years of professional experience in shipping, logistics, insurance, legal practice, or a related maritime or trade sector. A basic familiarity with international trade concepts such as Incoterms, freight contracts, or cargo documentation is helpful. No formal legal qualification is required, as the programme is designed to be accessible to commercially experienced professionals from a range of backgrounds.
Training Methodology
- Analysis of landmark admiralty and marine insurance case studies drawn from Lloyd's Law Reports and international arbitration awards
- Small-group charterparty and bill of lading review exercises, where participants identify problematic clauses and propose amendments
- Simulated claims management scenarios requiring delegates to draft notices of claim, instruct surveyors, and respond to underwriter queries
- Role-play negotiations between cargo owners, shipowners, P&I correspondents, and average adjusters
- Review and marking of sample marine insurance policies to identify coverage gaps, exclusions, and warranty breaches
- Facilitated discussion of recent maritime incidents including pollution events, container fires, and piracy attacks and their legal aftermaths
- Guided walkthrough of a full general average adjustment exercise using a realistic voyage scenario
- Practical drafting workshop producing a letter of protest, a reservation of rights notice, and a without-prejudice settlement offer
- Peer-reviewed group presentations on assigned international conventions and their practical implications for participants' own organisations
Organisational Benefits
- Reduced financial exposure from poorly managed maritime claims and contractual disputes
- Improved accuracy and speed in assessing, notifying, and settling marine insurance claims
- Stronger in-house capability to review and negotiate bills of lading, charterparties, and insurance policies
- Better alignment with international regulatory requirements, reducing compliance risk and port state control detentions
- Enhanced ability to engage effectively with underwriters, P&I clubs, surveyors, and legal counsel
- More informed decision-making in cargo procurement, vessel chartering, and freight contracting
- Reduced reliance on external legal advice for routine maritime documentation and claims correspondence
- A workforce equipped to identify and escalate emerging maritime legal and insurance risks before they escalate into disputes
- Strengthened organisational reputation with international trading partners and insurers
- Improved cross-departmental collaboration between legal, operations, finance, and procurement teams on maritime matters
Where Is Maritime Law, Insurance and Claims Training Offered?
This course runs in-person across: Cape Town, Dubai, Nairobi, Abuja, Kigali, Kampala, Riyadh, Naivasha, Accra, Mombasa, Johannesburg, Lagos, Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Pretoria, Addis Ababa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Zanzibar, plus Live Virtual (online) cohorts. Browse live dates for your city below.
Upcoming Schedules
| Location | Format | Dates | Price |
|---|
| Cape Town, South Africa |
In-Person |
5 Oct 2026 – 9 Oct 2026 |
USD 3,800 |
| Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
In-Person |
5 Oct 2026 – 9 Oct 2026 |
USD 4,100 |
| Nairobi, Kenya |
In-Person |
5 Oct 2026 – 9 Oct 2026 |
KES 105,000 |
| Abuja, Nigeria |
In-Person |
12 Oct 2026 – 16 Oct 2026 |
USD 2,800 |
| Kigali, Rwanda |
In-Person |
12 Oct 2026 – 16 Oct 2026 |
USD 1,900 |
| Kampala, Uganda |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
USD 1,900 |
| Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
USD 4,500 |
| Naivasha, Kenya |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
KES 120,000 |
| Accra, Ghana |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
USD 3,800 |
| Mombasa, Kenya |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
KES 115,000 |
| Johannesburg, South Africa |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
USD 3,500 |
| Live Virtual |
Online |
26 Oct 2026 – 30 Oct 2026 |
KES 80,000 |
| Lagos, Nigeria |
In-Person |
26 Oct 2026 – 30 Oct 2026 |
USD 2,500 |
| Arusha, Tanzania |
In-Person |
26 Oct 2026 – 30 Oct 2026 |
USD 2,100 |
| Dar es Salaam, Tanzania |
In-Person |
26 Oct 2026 – 30 Oct 2026 |
USD 2,300 |
+234 more dates — view live schedule →
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a legal background to attend this course?
No legal qualification is required. The programme is designed for commercially experienced professionals from shipping, insurance, logistics, trade, and related fields. Legal concepts are explained in plain language and applied through practical, real-world scenarios.
Which legal system does the course focus on?
The course takes an international perspective, covering the major IMO conventions and globally recognised instruments such as the Hague-Visby Rules and the York-Antwerp Rules. English maritime law is used as a primary reference given its dominance in international shipping contracts, but participants from all jurisdictions will find the content directly applicable to their work.
Will I receive a certificate upon completion?
Yes. Delegates who attend and participate throughout the five-day programme will receive a Certificate of Completion issued by TrainingComplex, which can be used for professional development records and continuing education portfolios.
Is this course suitable for someone who handles cargo claims but has no insurance background?
Absolutely. The programme is structured to build knowledge progressively, and modules on marine insurance principles and policy structure provide a solid foundation before moving into claims management. Delegates from claims, operations, and logistics roles consistently find the insurance modules immediately applicable to their day-to-day work.
Can this training be delivered in-house for our organisation?
Yes. TrainingComplex offers customised in-house delivery of this programme for teams of six or more participants. The content can be tailored to your organisation's specific trade lanes, vessel types, cargo categories, or claims portfolio to maximise relevance and practical impact.
