My first weekly column in the Herald covered the subject of cabotage, and applications for the coasting trade in Canada. Is something I plan to cover going forward in that venue, because the applications tell a story about the shipping business.

Coincidentally, Seafarers’ Rights International (SRI) released a large report on cabotage. The report, Cabotage Laws of the World, has identified for the first time ninety-one member states of the United Nations that have cabotage laws restricting foreign activity in their domestic coastal trades.

The report describes the history of maritime cabotage and traces a number of early rudimentary legal principles. It sets out examples of the many different definitions of cabotage that exist today at the national, regional and international levels as well as examples of the restrictions of foreign activity and their waivers in domestic coastal trades.

You can read the full report here.