Skip to content

Studies & Degrees in Maritime Law

Maritime law, also called admiralty or shipping law, deals with ships and with what happens at sea and in port: the carriage of goods and passengers, charter contracts, marine insurance, collisions, salvage, pollution, the arrest of ships and the employment of seafarers. It has a private side (contracts and liability between companies) and a public side, the law of the sea, which sets the rights and duties of states.

The public side rests on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The UN describes it as a comprehensive regime of law and order in the world's oceans and seas; it was opened for signature on 10 December 1982 and entered into force on 16 November 1994. Technical rules come from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN specialised agency responsible for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of pollution by ships. Its key conventions include SOLAS, on the safety of life at sea, and STCW, on the training and certification of seafarers. Each country adds its own legislation. In Spain it is Ley 14/2014 de Navegación Marítima, which regulates the legal situations and relationships that arise from maritime navigation.

Qualifications and levels

Maritime law is a specialisation, not a first degree. Law students usually meet it as an optional course and specialise with a master's degree. In Spain there are two kinds of master's programme, and the difference matters:

  • Official master's degrees (máster universitario) have 60, 90 or 120 ECTS credits. The Máster universitario en Derecho y Negocio Marítimo of the Universitat Abat Oliba CEU (UAO CEU), in Barcelona, has 60 ECTS credits and lasts 10 months, from October to June, in a blended format with 20 places. It covers Spanish maritime law and aspects of the maritime law of England and Wales, and includes a compulsory work placement.
  • A university's own master's programmes (máster propio, or Máster de Formación Permanente) are not official degrees. The Máster en Negocio y Derecho Marítimo of the Universidad Pontificia Comillas is one of them: it lasts 600 hours, is taught in Spanish at the Faculty of Law (Comillas ICADE) together with the Instituto Marítimo Español, and is in its 43rd edition. The next edition starts on 14 October 2026.
  • Double programmes. UAO CEU also combines its maritime master's with the Máster universitario en Abogacía y Procura, the master's that leads to the Spanish bar. The double programme has 150 ECTS credits over 16 months.

Outside the university system, the IMO International Maritime Law Institute, on the premises of the University of Malta, trains specialists in international maritime law with an emphasis on IMO regulations.

Admission, language and costs

UAO CEU addresses its master's to law graduates who want a career in maritime law and business, and also to graduates of other disciplines who want to enter the sector. Candidates who take the programme in a language other than their mother tongue must show CEFR level B2 or higher in it. The listed total price is €7,575 for the 2026-27 academic year. Classes are on Friday afternoons, which suits students who already work.

English matters in this field. UAO CEU points out that most contracts in the maritime sector are subject to English common law. Legal English courses, such as those of English for Law in Dublin, are a useful complement for lawyers trained in another language.

Where to study

SpainExchange lists five active schools for maritime law: three in Spain, one in Sweden and one in Ireland. In Spain they are the Universitat Abat Oliba CEU in Barcelona, the Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid and the Universidad Camilo José Cela, also in the Madrid region. The others are Lund University in Sweden and English for Law in Ireland. Programmes change from year to year, so check each school's current offer.

Careers

Maritime lawyers work in specialised law firms, shipping companies, port and logistics operators, marine insurers and brokers, and public bodies. UAO CEU lists these fields for its graduates: management of international transport operations, international arbitration in the maritime sector, international legal practice, maritime consultancy, and insurance contracting and management.

A master's degree does not replace the national qualification needed to act as a lawyer in court. For the profession as a whole, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of lawyers in the United States to grow 5 percent from 2025 to 2035; it gives no separate figure for maritime lawyers.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a law degree to study maritime law?

Not always. The UAO CEU master's is aimed at law graduates but also admits graduates of other disciplines who want to enter the maritime sector. Practising as a lawyer does require a law qualification in the country concerned.

How long does a master's in maritime law take?

About one academic year. The official master's at UAO CEU has 60 ECTS credits and lasts 10 months; the Comillas programme lasts 600 hours.

Is every master's in maritime law in Spain an official degree?

No. A máster universitario is an official degree. A máster propio or Máster de Formación Permanente is the university's own qualification. The Comillas programme is listed under the university's own master's programmes; the UAO CEU programme is a máster universitario.

Which language are the programmes taught in?

The Comillas programme is taught in Spanish. Check the language of each programme, and expect to work with English-language contracts and case law in any of them.