hello all..

am a navigating officer in merchant navy and am coming to southampton for my mates and masters licence.
i am keenly interested in pursuing further studies in the field of maritime law and i have heard of certain universities such as the ones of southampton, swansea and nottingham providing specialised courses in the same.

i would like to know if my master's certificate of competency and an experience at sea of almost 8-9 years could be considered as an entry critirea for any of these universities.

thanks..

Hi, I work at the University of Southampton and I can tell you that most years there are a few seafarers taking the LLM course in maritime law. I can't specifically advise you because I am not involved in admissions, but I would strongly encourage you to contact the admissions teams of Soton and any other Unis you are interested in and ask them whether your current and future qualifications would be enough for admission. I am sure they will be happy to respond.

thanks for the info..will go to the universities personally and clarify the same...

as per my info, even if i complete LLM in maritime law, i cant practice law as i wont be having a bachelors in law.

could you kindly advice if its possible to do any accelerated LLB in UK while doing work as a marine associate.

many thanks again for your advice.

What you say about the LLM is correct - you can't practise as a solicitor or barrister; but there is other work you can do such as P&I claims handling and average adjusting.

As for the LLB, if I am not misinformed I think an accelerated LLB is a possibility, usually provided you have an earlier university degree. However, an LLB is very hard work and I do not think anyone can do it while working full time.

The GDL/PGDip in law may be a possibility - if you do it part time it takes two years. It is the first step towards practise followed by the LPC or BVC.

many thanks for your reply. could you please advice the route to be taken and how much time it can take to become a pracitising solicitor after completing LLM in maritime law.

Step 1 LLB (2-3 years) or GDL (one year)
Step 2 LPC (one year)
Step 3 Training contract (2 years)

Steps 1 and 2 can be done part-time, in double the time. Step 3 is extremely competitive - at the moment not many training contracts are being given and there will be a lasting effect of this with greater competition for training contracts.

As you can see the time and money required means that this may not be a viable strategy for a mature professional.

For a seafarer simply looking for a shorebased career, I would personally recommend aiming to work for a P&I club, shipbroker, classification society or shipping company instead. For that, an LLM may well be sufficient.

many thanks for d entire framework...

highly appreciate ur suggestion, but am looking forward to m.law not just as an option for settling ashore, but to make it as a career.. am ready to go for the expenses n d time reqd to achieve the final goal. else dere many other shore options available to me without goin for m.law..

thanks once again for all ur help. will seek further guidance whenever in doubt.

puneet sareen

Of course I do not doubt your commitment or ability at all!! On the contrary, I am happy for you. Since I do not know you personally and since this is a public forum of course I have to speak on a general basis.

One very good thing about pursuing 'the full programme' as you intend to do is that if you run out of money or patience (one never knows what life brings), as a former seafarer you can always make a detour and work for one of the types of employers I mentioned above,.so it is not really a risky bet for you to put in the greater investment.

I am always happy to answer questions and give whatever guidance I can so please by all means let me know if I can help and also keep me posted on how it goes. Best of luck.

Hi....I am a sailing master and am joining Swansea for a year of Maritime law...they consider us on work experience and additionally on the practical knowledge we bring to the class...hope this helps...smooth seas...Anshuman

hello all..

am a navigating officer in merchant navy and am coming to southampton for my mates and masters licence.
i am keenly interested in pursuing further studies in the field of maritime law and i have heard of certain universities such as the ones of southampton, swansea and nottingham providing specialised courses in the same.

i would like to know if my master's certificate of competency and an experience at sea of almost 8-9 years could be considered as an entry critirea for any of these universities.

thanks..

I have the same experience: former Master and crew have a real and important contribution to make, especially to tutorials. They have important detailed knowledge to share with the class about cargoes and procedures on board which cannot be acquired in any other way than by life experience.

Hello Sir,

Many thanks for the highly motivating and vital info that you have provided. would request you clarify my further queries :

1. Did you apply to any other university other than Swansea? If yes, then kindly share the name of the universities and the reason for selecting Swansea as your choice. I have heard Soton (Southampton) and Tulane (New Orleans) are two other good choices to consider.

2. I dont intend to get my Masters promotion, intend to join LLM soon after acquiring my Masters licence. Hope the experience till then would suffice.

Looking fwd to your further valuable guidance.
Puneet Sareen

Hi....I am a sailing master and am joining Swansea for a year of Maritime law...they consider us on work experience and additionally on the practical knowledge we bring to the class...hope this helps...smooth seas...Anshuman

Dear Puneet,

I apologize for the late response. Have been busy. Regarding your queries -
1. No I did not apply anywhere else. The Best known Maritime Law college is in Malta. After that it is a fair toss between Swansea and Southampton. I preferred the former because the professors who will be teaching us are mostly active researchers who publish regularly. Tulane is often hit by hurricanes and the college is sometimes affected and closed.
2. I do not believe the rank of of a 'Master' is required per se. The college is interested in our work experience in total and not at a rank. The best people to lay rest such doubts would be the college itself. I still remember the first contact quite vividly and that I spoke to Dr. Baris Soyer the dept. Heat of Maritime Law at Swansea and he was most encouraging and helpful. Call the places you are considering.

The fact that Swansea is beautiful also helped clinch the deal as I am going there with family.

What ever you decide... the move to get a shore job is the correct one and I wish you the best.

Best regards
Anshuman

Hello sir,

Many thanks once again for your response.
Understand the fact that it is most important to talk to the universities personally to get a clear view reg admissions.

Sir, what kind of opportunities do you view for yourself in future after doing this course? As you can see from this post, am planning to aim for the entire lawyer profile, but since am not yet married, am a bit skeptic about how things would turn out in future. Would like to know if you have any specific field / target in mind.

Many thanks.
Brgds
Puneet

Dear Puneet,

I apologize for the late response. Have been busy. Regarding your queries -
1. No I did not apply anywhere else. The Best known Maritime Law college is in Malta. After that it is a fair toss between Swansea and Southampton. I preferred the former because the professors who will be teaching us are mostly active researchers who publish regularly. Tulane is often hit by hurricanes and the college is sometimes affected and closed.
2. I do not believe the rank of of a 'Master' is required per se. The college is interested in our work experience in total and not at a rank. The best people to lay rest such doubts would be the college itself. I still remember the first contact quite vividly and that I spoke to Dr. Baris Soyer the dept. Heat of Maritime Law at Swansea and he was most encouraging and helpful. Call the places you are considering.

The fact that Swansea is beautiful also helped clinch the deal as I am going there with family.

What ever you decide... the move to get a shore job is the correct one and I wish you the best.

Best regards
Anshuman