Dear all,

I am presently sailing as a Master with a reputed German company. Im holding a Master Class-I certificate of competency from India. I had got admission for LLM in maritime law course in the University of Southampton, but could not take up the same, as ive come to learn from various sources that its a pre-requisite to have an LLB in order to do an LLM in maritime law. Could someone be kind enough to clarify , if my present background as a seafarer (with 12 years of experience at sea) will hold me in good stead, in order to pursue an LLM without having a formal LLB degree...

Thanks and Best regards
Capt.Mahesh Jayaram

You state that you have gained admission to the LLM program? If so, what is the problem? Some law schools allow people from other backgrounds in the LLM program, and it seems seafarers will do for maritime law.

Just mail them to ask if you can in reality attend the LLM in your current position, without an LLB.

Dear santa,

Thanks a ton for your quick response. Pls note that even people from the Southampton university (Ms.Alison Lampard, Post grad admissions LLM prog) have advised me that though im eligible to do the course, ther is no guarantee that ill be able to take up any job as very few companies prefer to hire such candidates. So im actually caught up in a big dilemma and pretty much clueless regarding my next course of action.
Awaiting yours..

Thanks and best regards
mahesh

Dear Capt Mahesh - it has taken me a couple of days to answer this because I wanted to doublecheck with Ms Lampard first.

She often gets questions from prospective students as to their prospects after the LLM and the only answer she gives is that the LLM is not a shortcut to qualify as a lawyer in the UK, in order to work as a solicitor or barrister. (More details elsewhere on this forum). Apart from that, Ms Lampard does not try to give you career advise, so while you should of course consider your options very carefully, please do not overinterpret the information she gave you!

I have certainly seen former seafarers going through the LLM to jobs with P&I, class, etc! Of course, in the end it may also depend on your service record as a seafarer, the employment market at the time when you graduate and other factors which are nothing to do with the LLM so it would be entirely wrong to try to make a prediction for you.

I am happy to provide further information on this or other queries you may have.

Best of luck,

Johanna/Southampton

Good day Ms.Johanna,
Many thanks for your response. Thanks for all the clarifications. Do you have any idea regarding the Cass business school in London. I am trying for this course called Msc in Shipping trade and finance. If you do, then ill be delighted to receive some useful inputs on the same. This has come to light as one of my batchmates has done the same but im not able to get in touch with him. Im just keeping my options open and as you have rightly advised, im scrutinising them very carfully.
Thanks in advance
Mahesh

Dear Captain Mahesh,

I am afraid I am not familiar with that programme and could not shed any light on it.

It appears to me that you are not quite certain as to what type of shorebased job you want to do. Keeping in mind that a well known quality degree as such is likely to be appreciated by any employer as evidence of your general capacity, I would nevertheless advise you to give some serious thought to your ideal future job before you make your final choice of degree - is it claims handling, surveying, ship management, brokering, legal advice or indeed something else that you would ideally like to be doing? Your seafaring background would be useful in any of those or indeed in other careers so I think you should choose your degree according to what direction you would like to take henceforth.

I would suspect that the LLM would be most directly useful for clams handling and brokering. As I said, our most recent seafarer graduates have tended to go on to work in class or P&I or inhouse. I repeat that it would be wrong to attempt to make predictions but I rather think recent graduates have all done quite well on the jobs market.

I hope that helps. Best of luck with your studies, whatever you decide!

Johanna

Dear Johannah,

Many thanks for time and effort. Your valuble inputs and suggestions are highly appreciated. As for me, the basic problem is that, we as seafarers do not get much exposure to the so called "Backstage" operations of shipping. Hence i like many others, am totally oblivious. Though there is sufficient knowledge gained over this 12 years of sailing,
but still unsure in which direction to channel my experience.
I have time till next october, when my classes in Southampton start. Hope i can get out of this predicament that i am in, by then.

Once again, thanks a lot for all your help, really appreciate it.

warm regards
Mahesh

I can understand that. Fortunately you have some time to think things through and procure information about the various opportunities.

But if it is any comfort I do not think your predicament is a very bad one - you can probably not go very far wrong as long as you choose a quality degree from a recognised university - I have a hard time seeing an employer overlooking your 12 years at sea, (part of which as a Master?), and looking only at your one-year degree - that is rarely how things works in life...

Best of luck,

Johanna