Whose ship is it anyway? Ownership and choice of law in admiralty

Abstract

This paper was presented as part of Business Session 3, on the topic of 'International maritime legal developments of interest', which was chaired by Neil Beadle.

This paper contains the slides for Myburgh's presentation, using the MV Cape Moreton as a case example, amongst other cases, in order to explore the question of what legal system should govern the issue of vessel ownership in the context of admiralty jurisdiction, and whether to characterise the issue as substantive or procedural. Ultimately Myburgh preferences a 'lex causae' approach to determining vessel ownership over a 'lex fori' approach.