The existing risk weighing on vessel, crew and ecosystem in the Arctic and more globally in Polar waters promoted the adoption of the Polar Code (PC) early 2017, a mandatory international legal framework intended for enhanced safety and environmental protection. While the substance of the PC has been extensively analyzed, few studies have focused on the underlying relationships between the PC and underwriters. Based on an extensive literature review, documentary materials and interviews with insurance companies, this article conceptualizes the PC as a “toolbox” and analyzes how underwriters can exploit it in their work within the emerging Arctic market. The PC does not only regulate the navigation in Arctic waters in legal terms, but is also aimed at mitigating risks in the Polar areas through the identification of hazard sources and proceduralization of risk assessment. As a result we observe a certain “Polar Code paradox”. Even though the PC is a risk-based instrument and constitutes a key step for improving ship insurability, it has only limited capacity to assist underwriters in assessing risks and insuring vessels. Marine insurers still face a lack of data and high pending uncertainties leading them to exercise extreme caution with Arctic risks appraisal.

Regulation and competition create increasing pressure on port logistics. This paper analyzes the influence of information technology solutions during the implementation of new mandatory constraints in port operations, specifically the 2014 mandate by the International Maritime Organization on the container Verified Gross Mass (VGM) to enhance maritime and port safety operations. This research takes a multi-method approach including expert interviews to explore twenty-five case studies of VGM implementation. Expert interviews are transcribed and analyzed with cluster analysis tools to determine recurring themes and insights. Data was collected before, during, and after implementation providing a rigorous study. Findings are threefold. Firstly, the study demonstrates that VGM enforcement entails a significant change in the maritime supply chain, subjecting it to an additional mandatory compliance process in the already complex arena of port operations. Secondly, it shows that structuration of port communities through a strong digitalization of data exchange, such as Port Community Systems (PCS), made easier the transition and the compliance toward a new constraining maritime regulation. Thirdly, this work illustrates that theoretically, PCS not only have positive influence on the adoption of mandatory regulation, but also that communication channels, compatibility and infrastructure are key variables to be managed during implementation.

"The Monitoring, Reporting and Verification of Ships’ Carbon Dioxide Emissions: A European Substantial Policy Measure towards Accurate and Transparent Carbon Dioxide Quantification" published on 01 Jan 2017 by Brill | Nijhoff.

Since its beginnings in the 19^th century, the liner shipping industry has shown specific peculiarities characterized by close collaboration between sea carriers. This cooperation has materialized through various types of inter-firm agreements that have been exempted from the key principles of competition law. Recently, strong criticism has emerged against strategic alliances and related agreements that rule a concentrated market where operators are strongly interrelated and increasingly integrated. However, the maritime management literature so far has given little attention to the concrete provisions of these agreements, which still appear as ‘black boxes.’ To fill this gap, we collected 61 enforced cooperative agreements registered with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission from 1973 to 2020 using a three-way comparison through legal, linguistic, and business lenses of the differences between older and newer types of agreements. We underline the key temporal evolutions of these contracts and show how ocean carriers have incorporated new legal constraints and strategic needs driven by structural market changes toward greater logistics integration.