ABSTRACT
Over the recent years, the shipbuilding market has shown a major shift towards the East, particularly Japan, Korea and China (the last two having attracted a large shipbuilding capacity since the mid-1990s). This movement has prompted the European Commission to issue a proposal for a Council Decision on the signing and conclusion of an International Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Korea relating to assistance of the world shipbuilding market (Com/2000/263, 3 May 2000 and Com/2000/0130, 26 May 2000). Shipbuilding contracts are, usually, made in the English language and provide for English law and jurisdiction. In this chapter, the basic principles of English law pertaining to shipbuilding contracts are explained with examples of leading cases.
