Healing the Blind Spots: An Exposition and Critique of the Law on Maritime Liens under the Ghana Shipping Act, 2003
Abstract
Ghana maritime law is basically drawn from the general maritime law from the English common law, and statutory law, currently the Ghana Shipping Act, 2003. Therefore, the law governing maritime liens in Ghana is to be found in these two sources. The Ghana Shipping Act (GSA, 2003) repealed the Merchant Shipping Act, 1963 (Act 183) as severally amended, and seeks to consolidate and bring the law governing maritime activity in Ghana into conformity with the International Maritime Organization’s (I.M.O.) conventions. Prior to the enactment of the GSA, 2003, there was no statutory provision on maritime liens and the subject was primarily governed by the traditional common law rules. The obvious defect was that law on maritime liens as it applied in the United Kingdom on 24th July 1874 was the only applicable law in Ghana despite the fact that maritime world had significantly moved on. In recognition of this state of affairs, Ghana acceded to the 1993 International Convention on Maritime Liens and Mortgages and implemented this Convention into domestic legislation.
This Convention, and by extension the Ghana Shipping Act, among other things, recognizes that ship financing is becoming increasingly international and, therefore, the need for the application of uniform rules in the recovery of loans by financiers. Secondly, the Convention seeks to reduce the number of maritime liens in order to encourage ship financing by granting better priority to mortgage holders. In this way, ship-owners could develop their fleets and obtain adequate financing while securing the financial interest of the financiers. Finally, the Convention aims to secure maritime liens as a means of contributing to the safe and efficient operation of ships.