Abstract
Although the Moroccan Maritime Trade Code devotes numerous provisions to the ship's captain, it offers no definition of the position. Drawing on the various powers set out in these provisions, the captain may be understood as the person who lawfully commands the ship, oversees its technical and administrative management, and exercises the different authorities granted by maritime law and custom. While in earlier times the shipowner was often the one who commanded the vessel, the growing complexity of commercial activity led owners to entrust technical and administrative operation to an experienced seafarer. This study traces the legal status of the captain, noting that even in antiquity—particularly under Babylonian law and the Code of Hammurabi (Article 283)—the captain was not necessarily the owner. It examines the historical separation between ownership and command, the role of chartering, and the captain's evolving legal position under Moroccan maritime law.
Recommended Citation
El Youssfi El Berqi, Ahmed
(1990)
"The Legal Status of the Ship's Captain,"
Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management): Vol. 9:
Iss.
1, Article 8.
https://doi.org/10.66499/2665-7112.1666
Available at:
https://scholarhub.univh2c.ma/remadeg/vol9/iss1/8
DOI
10.66499/2665-7112.1666