Director's preface

As mentioned in last year’s preface, the Institute has since 2014 experienced uncertainty in regard to the financing from The Nordic Council of Ministers (NMR). However, in December 2016 we were informed that the contract would be extended throughout 2018 instead of being terminated in 2017. Furthermore, in November 2016 NordForsk offered the new financial instrument designed to continue financing of the Nordic institutions that have been partly financed by NMR. The instrument is called “Nordic University Hub” and its purpose is to promote Nordic cooperation withineducation and research at University level. In order to apply for this funding the Institute established cooperation with Center for Enterprise Liability at the Faculty of law at University of Copenhagen, the Department of Law at University of Southern Denmark, the Law Department of the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, the Axel Ax:son Johnson Institute of Maritime and Transportation Law at the Faculty of Law of Stockholm University, the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki, the Faculty of Social Sciences, Business and Economics at Åbo Akademi University, the School of Law, Reykjavik University and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Akureyri. The application for funding was submitted in May 2017. The evaluation from NordForsk is expected in November 2017.

The research at the institute has followed the same direction as previous years. The traditional core research area, contracts in the shipping-, offshore- and energy sectors is maintained and developed. The same is true for energy law, petroleum law and ocean law. There has also been a significant amount of research within general commercial law and international economic law. EU law perspectives and environmental issues are included in all these areas.

During 2016 the institute developed a research strategy that included research projects involving all three departments at the institute (Department of maritime law, Department of petroleum and energy law and Center of European law). Of particular relevance in regard to the core research activity mentioned is projects related to ocean law and energy law. The ocean law project includes questions concerning jurisdiction, regulation of commercial activity, licence systems, safety, pollution liability, insurance and contracts. The energy law project includes the EU regulation of the energy market, licence issues, supply security, environment and climatic issues and maritime and ocean law issues in connection with renewable energy in the ocean. The strategy also aims to develop a research project on fishery law which will further the expertise that has been developed within the traditional maritime law topics, ocean law, petroleum law and energy law.

Tarjei Bekkedal at the Center for European Law was assessed and found eligible for the position as Professor of Law. The promotion was granted retroactively from September 2015.

In terms of publications and activities 2016 has been a most productive year. Researchers at the Institute have contributed to fourteen issues of MarIus, covering topics within EU law, energy law, maritime law and other topics. The Institute has hosted several events of varying size throughout 2016. Among the most notable were the Department of petroleum and energy law seminar 8 February 2016 with the topic “Current oil and gas law trends”, and the 20 June seminar on “Managing resources, a Norwegian experience”. The department of maritime law hosted a seminar for the University’s Arctic initiative 1–2 December 2016 on “Ecosystem based management in the Arctic” and Oslo Law of the Sea Forum hosted a seminar on ocean law issues in June on “New uses and abuses of the sea bed – legal challenges.” The Center of European law hosted the seminar “Brexit and the EEA” on 2 September and “Crossing Europe’s Borders – New approaches to migration in European law” on 20 October 2016.

The Institute was also co-host at several events. The European Colloquium of Maritime Law Research with NIFS as co-host was arranged in Bilbao 14–15 September on the topic “Maritime liens, mortgages and forced sale”. The Department of Petroleum and Energy law hosted together with UiO:Energy and Energy Norway, a seminar on Energy law; Legal and political development, in the spring semester 2016. Further, members of the academic staff are, as in previous years, active participants and partly co-hosts in an array of legal seminars hosted by other institutions (e.g. the “Kiel seminar” on energy law, the Petroleum Law Seminar and the Solstrand seminar on oil and gas law).

The Institute has maintained its portfolio of taught courses in 2016. This includes elective courses in petroleum law, maritime law, marine insurance, insurance law and EU substantive law within the study programme Master of Law (in addition to courses taught in Norwegian). In addition, a new selective course on ocean law is now offered as an extension of the institute’s research on ocean law and participation in the UiO: Arctic initiative. The Institute also provides the complete study programme, Master of Maritime Law. The courses maintain their popularity within the student body. In 2016 there were 245 applicants competing for 20 places on the Master of Maritime Law programme, and accepted candidates have been recruited from thirteen countries.

Approximately fifty percent of the Institutes funding in 2016 has been through external project funding. Our main sponsors and collaborators are:

• The Nordic Council of Ministers

• Research Council of Norway

• the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association

• the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy/the Research Council of Norway

• Energy Norway

• Anders Jahre’s Foundation

We are very grateful to all our sponsors.

We would also like to express our gratitude to the numerous practitioners who help us year after year with lectures, student advice, information and examinations, often free of charge. Their contribution is important in making the Institute what it is: a meeting place for young as well as established researchers, practitioners and students, all of whom combine open-minded enthusiasm for new knowledge with penetrating analysis. In particular, we are delighted with the way in which practitioners as well as researchers from other institutions have contributed to our elective courses and the Master of Maritime Law programme.

Trine-Lise Wilhelmsen

Editor's preface

This issue of SIMPLY contains a variety of topics representative of the Institute’s activities and areas of law covered by its academic staff, and that of its students, associated academics and practicing lawyers.

First there are two contributions within classical maritime law; Thor Falkanger’s article on the system of the Maritime Code concerning who on the carrier’s side are bound by the issuance of cargo documents, and Trond Solvang’s article concerning shipowners’ limitation rights within the scope of section 172a of the Maritime Code. Then there is another maritime law topic, with important aspects into environmental law, by Henrik Ringbom, on the regulative aspects of ships’ sulphur emission in controlled areas.

Thereafter there is an article by Finn Arnesen, representing the Center of European law, providing overriding legal analyses of the status of the EEA Agreement – followed by an essay, showing the relationship between maritime law and EU-law, by one of our LLM students, Jonela Kuro. The essay, discussing the effect of EU-regulations on the Greek cabotage shipping industry, was submitted as an exam paper as part of our LLM programme.

From EU-related shipping law we turn to an area of Norwegian law of paramount importance to ship finance, namely the legal status of the Nordic Trustee (Norsk Tillitsmann) when disputes arise from the issuance of bonds within the Norwegian bond market – as presented in an article by Benedicte Haavik Urrang, lawyer with Nordic Legal Services. 

Finally we are pleased to have two contributions from Denmark: Vibe Ulfbeck’s article discussing procedural topics on whether daughter companies may be sued under the jurisdiction of their parent company –
and Kristina Siig’s article on the legal status of ship classification societies when performing tasks delegated by administrative regulatory authorities.

Trond Solvang