The third edition of Australian Maritime Law by Michael White follows on from the first and the second editions of which he was the editor and wrote some of the chapters. In those earlier editions many eminent Australian maritime lawyers contributed chapters from their own point of view but in this new edition the author has tried to bring a consistency of treatment of the topics which flows from the one author writing the entire work.
There are 17 Chapters and they start with Australian Admiralty Jurisdiction and Constitutional Law and work through the Arrest of Ships and the Admiralty Act 1988, Charter Parties, Carriage of Goods, Carriage of Passengers and Marine Insurance and General Average. The chapters then move on to cover Registration of Ships and Securities, Navigation and Ship Safety laws, Maritime Labour Law before then covering the ‘wet side’ of shipping. These chapters cover the topics of Collisions, Marine Inquiries, Salvage and Wreck, Underwater Cultural Heritage, Towage and Pilotage. The last chapters deal with the Australian international conventions and legislation covering Limitation of Liability, Marine Pollution, Criminal Jurisdiction and ends with the law of Prize and a recommendation that Australia needs to have suitable laws and courts for detaining the ships, cargo and crews in time of conflict.
