Maritime Law Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the Maritime Law exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 Maritime Law Exam Format at a Glance
📚 Maritime Law Topics to Study (21)
✍️ Sample Maritime Law Questions & Answers
1. The Special Compensation P&I Club (SCOPIC) clause modifies 'no cure, no pay' by providing a salvor with:
SCOPIC provides salvors with a minimum rate-based compensation to encourage them to engage in environmentally sensitive salvages where the property value may be low but pollution risk is high.
2. Under OPA 90, a responsible party may be completely relieved of liability if the spill was caused solely by:
OPA 90 provides complete defenses to liability only where the discharge was caused solely by an act of God, an act of war, or the act or omission of a third party with no contractual relationship to the responsible party.
3. A 'constructive total loss' (CTL) in marine insurance arises when:
A CTL occurs when the vessel is not an actual total loss but the cost of recovering or repairing it would exceed its insured value, making it commercially a total loss.
4. The Bunker Convention 2001 was designed to provide compensation for:
The Bunker Convention 2001 establishes a liability and compensation regime specifically for pollution damage caused by spills of bunker (fuel) oil from ships other than tankers, filling a gap left by the CLC.
5. The factors a court considers when assessing a salvage award include all of the following EXCEPT:
Salvage award factors under the Salvage Convention Article 13 include danger, skill, success, risk to salvors, environmental protection, and salved values — but not the nationality of the salving vessel.
6. Which clause in a charter party or bill of lading requires disputes to be resolved in a specific jurisdiction or by arbitration?
A paramount clause incorporates COGSA or the Hague Rules into the contract, while dispute resolution is handled by jurisdiction/arbitration clauses; however among the options, the paramount clause is not the right answer — the Himalaya clause extends defenses to third parties, the Jason clause preserves the carrier's right to general average even if negligent in navigation.