Seafarers’ Rights International (SRI), published a new report that explores the nature and extent of cabotage laws around the world. ‘Cabotage Laws of the World’ identifies for the first time 91 member states of the United Nations that have cabotage laws restricting foreign activity in their domestic coastal trades.
The report describes the history of maritime cabotage and outlines a number of early rudimentary legal principles. It also describes the many different definitions of cabotage that exist today at national, regional and international levels as well as examples of the restrictions of foreign activity and their waivers in domestic coastal trades.
According to the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, cabotage is:
The reservation of the transport task within a country’s territory to the surface (land and water) and air transport industries and the labour of the country. It is the are of water transport with which cabotage is usually associated and indeed the term is derived from the French word caboter, meaning to coast and is one of the most widely practiced measures of protectionism in the shipping.
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As the report states, of the states surveyed, 91 have cabotage laws. A very common law requires ships to to fly the flag of the state concerned. In addition, reservations about manning, as a certain percentage of the state may be required. Finally, restrictions were observed regarding cabotage itself and other maritime activities.
As for the states without cabotage rules, the report says that of the 193 states, many were excluded due to geographical reasons as they were landlocked, while many states had only one port, thus they were not able to impose cabotage.
What is more in a number of states, cabotage laws did exist but to a limited extend, and they did not meet the criteria of the report.
Finally, regarding the vessels subject to cabotage rules, they seem to be very broad. Many states do not have specific vessels on their lists, like Canada and Nigeria, which basically include all vessels. On the other hand, Australia excludes ships operated by the Australian Defence Force, inland waterway vessels, offshore industry vessel, recreational vessels, salvage vessels and tugboats.
You can read more information on ‘Cabotage Laws of the World’.
