ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the protracted system of German maritime safety laws. Unlike in German private maritime law – where the applicable rules for carriage of goods by sea law have been subject to a successful consolidation and modernization of the fifth book of the German Commercial Code since 2013 – there is no such thing as a singular ‘Maritime Safety Act’ in German public maritime law which could serve as a parallel overarching reference point. Rather, there is a variety of different applicable maritime safety laws which are frequently interlinked via legal cross-references. Quite frequently, these laws both implement secondary EU law as well as all applicable IMO Conventions which have been ratified by Germany. The chapter will highlight the substance of the most important domestic legal acts, aiming to offer not more than a first systematic approach to German maritime safety laws for the non-German reader.
