LWMAL: Admiralty Law

Module code: LWMAL

Module provider: School of Law

Credits: 20

ECTS credits: 10

Level: 7

When you’ll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Dr Ayca Ucar, email: ayca.ucar@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2026/7

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 26 March 2026

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module aims to provide students with a practical and deep analytical understanding of Admiralty Law and its practical implications to maritime operations and disputes. Maritime Law is divided into two main topics: dry and wet. Admiralty Law deals with maritime accidents that occur at sea. Admiralty Law is usually referred as wet topics because it involves incidents on the water. 

The module explores key substantive areas such as collisions, towage, salvage, general average, carriage of passengers, in line with the enforcement of maritime claims through Admiralty Court practice, including ship arrest, maritime liens, jurisdiction and limitation of liability.  The module offers a solid foundation for students new to maritime law while developing the analytical and practical skills required for advanced study in the shipping sector.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

1. demonstrate comprehensive and systematic understanding of the evolution of the core rules and fundamental principles of Admiralty law through analysis and critical assessment; 
2. show a critical awareness of the historical development of Admiralty law and evaluate its potential future trends;
3. address complex claims arising from maritime accidents at sea such as collisions, salvage, piracy, pollution, towage, wreck removal, limitation of liability and port-related liabilities;
4. prove familiarity with the relevant international conventions, legislation, case law, and standard-form maritime contracts governing Admiralty law;
5. develop awareness of emerging technological developments, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, and their impact on maritime operations;
6. understand the need for reform and adaptation of international maritime conventions in response to technological, commercial, and operational changes within the shipping industry.

Module content

1. Introduction to Admiralty law and the jurisdiction of the Admiralty Court -Historical overview
2. Collision at sea and liabilities
3. Towage
4. Salvage
5. General Average
6. Carriage of Passengers
7. Marine Pollution
8. Enforcement of Maritime Claims (Maritime Liens, Statutory Liens, Ship Arrest)
9. Limitation of Liability
10. Emerging technological developments and their effects on the occurrence, management and regulation of maritime incidents

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching in this module is designed to provide students with a wide variety of learning resources to support their learning. The main elements are:

• Twelve 2-hour seminars weekly 
• Assessed work that will be used to develop students' skills and knowledge. 
  --An assessed presentation  
  --An assessed essay  
• Discussion of case law in workshops aims to enhance problem solving, analytic thinking skills.

The module adopts a research-led and highly interactive teaching approach. Students engage in short peer presentations and formative assessments on selected topics, supported by detailed feedback to prepare them for summative assessment. Teaching will be enhanced through workshops based on real-life case studies on contemporary maritime disputes.

At the beginning of the semester, students receive two sets of supplementary material. The first sets out recommended textbooks, key cases and a comprehensive reading list for the entire term to guide preparation. The second contains relevant legislation, and International Conventions applicable to the module. Audio presentation slides will be used in every seminar to help students follow the key topics more easily. Prior to each seminar, students will receive the presentation slides, which outline the key topics and relevant cases to be discussed.

Study hours

At least 24 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 50% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each calendar day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three calendar days;
• where the piece of work is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in you Individual Learning Plan), the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three calendar days of the deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

Where a piece of work is submitted late after a deadline which has been revised owing to an extension granted through the Assessment Adjustments policy and process (self-certified or otherwise), it will be subject to the maximum penalty (i.e., considered to be more than three calendar days late). This will also apply when such an extension is used in conjunction with a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs