ABSTRACT
Maritime nations with significant coastline recognize the importance of a robust domestic maritime sector and the need to regulate access to their coastal waters. This has led to countries adopting some form of maritime cabotage regime to ensure the continued viability of its coastal trade. The authors identifies the three regulatory regimes of maritime cabotage law as protectionist, liberal and flexible. The maritime cabotage law of some countries expands beyond the basic reservation of coastal trade to their domestic registered vessels. The law in these countries require that vessels used to perform maritime cabotage services should be built in the host country. The law of maritime cabotage is used as an important legal instrument in a range of policy settings that are required to secure a strong and sustainable indigenous maritime sector in a country. In some maritime jurisdictions, the choice of maritime cabotage approach is influenced by the need to ensure reliability in the provision of maritime services.
