The Ship Master's Legal Responsibility for Navigational Safety under Law Number 17 of 2008 on Shipping
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Abstract
Maritime transport is central to Indonesia's logistics system, but shipboard operations expose passengers, crews, cargo, and the marine environment to substantial safety risks. This article examines the ship master's legal responsibility for navigational safety under Law Number 17 of 2008 on Shipping, as amended, and identifies the forms of liability that may arise when safety duties are breached. It applies normative legal research using statutory and conceptual approaches. Primary legal materials include the Shipping Law, the Indonesian Civil Code, and relevant international maritime instruments, particularly SOLAS and STCW, while secondary materials comprise maritime-law scholarship and earlier studies. The analysis finds that the ship master's authority is inseparable from a personal duty to verify seaworthiness, adequate crewing, navigational and communication equipment, safety appliances, cargo conditions, weather information, and operational readiness before departure and throughout the voyage. A breach may generate administrative sanctions, civil liability, or criminal responsibility, depending on the violated norm, the existence of fault, causation, and the resulting harm. These regimes may operate concurrently, although personal liability must be distinguished from the responsibilities of the shipowner or shipping company. Effective enforcement therefore requires a fact-sensitive attribution of fault rather than an automatic assignment of every maritime casualty to the ship master
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