Shipmaster's legal liability

This study focuses on shipmaster's liability arising from private law issues. With regard to the shipmaster's liability against the ship-owner, it is important to determine the legal character of the contract regarding the employment of the shipmaster. Thus, in the first chapter of the study, the principles regarding the employment of the shipmaster are emphasized. Especially the duties, powers and obligations of the shipmaster are set forth under the TCC (Turkish Commercial Code) Art.1088 et al. are important in terms of determining his liability. Therefore, these mentioned issues have been examined in detail under separate headings in the second chapter of this study. In addition, the shipmaster has a wide legal authority to represent the ship-owner, the carrier and those interested on the cargo. This legal representation authority of the shipmaster is examined in the third chapter. In the last chapter, the principles regarding the shipmaster's legal liability are analyzed differently, divided in terms of the persons to whom the shipmaster can be held responsible, considering that the nature and scope of the responsibility are different. Additionally, the shipmaster's loss of his right to benefit from limited liability is also elaborated in this section.