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Shipping was one of the earliest channels of commerce, and rules for resolving maritime trade disputes were developed early. An ancient example was the Rhodian law (Nomos Rhodion Nautikos), of which no extensive written specimen has survived, but which is alluded to in other legal texts (Roman and Byzantine legal codes), and later the customs of the Consulate of the Sea and the Hanseatic League.
The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972, also known as Collision Regulations (COLREGs), are published by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and set out, among other things, the "rules of the road" or navigation rules to be followed by ships and other vessels at sea to prevent collisions between two or more vessels.
The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) is an international maritime treaty which sets out minimum safety standards in the construction, equipment and operation of merchant ships.
The significance of UNCLOS stems from the fact that it systemizes and codifies the standards and principles of international maritime law, which are based on centuries of maritime experience and are expressed to a great extent in the United Nations Charter and current international maritime law norms, such as the Geneva Conventions of 1958.
In United States maritime law, the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851, codified as 46 U.S.C. § 30523 since December 2022, states that the owner of a vessel may limit damage claims to the value of the vessel at the end of the voyage plus "pending freight", as long as the owner can prove it lacked knowledge of the problem beforehand.
The Hague Rules of 1924 effectively codified, albeit in a diluted form, the English common law rules to protect the cargo owner against exploitation by the carrier. Nearly 50 years later, the Hague-Visby "update" made few changes, so that the newer Rules still applied only to "tackle to tackle" carriage (i.e. carriage by sea) and the container ...
Law of the sea should be distinguished from maritime law, which concerns maritime issues and disputes among private parties, such as individuals, international organizations, or corporations. However, the International Maritime Organisation, a UN agency that plays a major role in implementing law of the sea, also helps to develop, codify, and ...
For articles on admiralty law or maritime law, a body of both domestic law governing maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between private entities which operate vessels on the oceans, see Category:Admiralty law