Page 10. MAINE COASTAL NEWS February 2017 Maritime Lawyer Wiswall Receives International Maritime Prize


Waterfront News The IMO Council decided to award


the Prize to Dr. Wiswall at its June session, noting Dr. Wiswall’s personal contribution to the work of IMO, leading IMO’s Legal Committee as it developed a number of key international treaties and holding important roles at various international IMO legal and diplomatic conferences. As a lecturer at IMLI in Malta and as a Member of its Governing Board from 1992 to the present, Dr. Wiswall has also made a signifi cant contribution to the training of lawyers from around the world. Dr. Frank Lawrence Wiswall Junior,


former Chair of the IMO Legal Committee and Vice President (Honoris Causa) of the Comité Maritime International (CMI), has received the prestigious International Mar- itime Prize for 2015 for his contribution to the work of IMO over many years. Presenting the Prize, during a cere-


mony at IMO Headquarters on Monday (5 December), IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim highlighted Dr. Wiswall’s dedication and leadership in the fi eld of international maritime law over several decades, making an invaluable contribution to the goals and purpose of IMO. “Dr. Wiswall’s contribution to IMO’s


goals has been vast. In helping to provide the legal backbone for a regulatory regime that covers just about every aspect of ship design, construction and operation, and re- lated issues like liability and compensation, wreck removal and ship recycling – he has played his part in our common goal of making shipping safe, secure, effi cient and clean,” Mr. Lim said. The Prize ceremony was held at the close of the fi rst day of the IMO Council’s 117th session. Dr. Wiswall acted as Vice Chair and


Chair of IMO’s Legal Committee in the 1970s and 1980s; worked as a lecturer and Governing Board Member of the IMO In- ternational Maritime Law Institute, IMLI, and served as Vice-President of the Comité Maritime International. The IMO Council decided to award


the Prize to Dr. Wiswall at its June session, noting Dr. Wiswall’s personal contribution to the work of IMO, leading IMO’s Legal Committee as it developed a number of key international treaties and holding important roles at various international IMO legal and diplomatic conferences. As a lecturer at IMLI in Malta and as a


Member of its Governing Board from 1992 to the present, Dr. Wiswall has also made a signifi cant contribution to the training of lawyers from around the world.


In nominating his candidature for the


International Maritime Prize, the CMI said Dr. Wiswall had contributed greatly to the establishment of the uniformity of maritime law during his long and distinguished career as a practicing maritime lawyer, academic and Vice-President of the CMI. Biography


Frank Wiswall is a resident of Castine.


He was born in Albany, New York, and raised in Maine. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree at Colby College, a Doctor of Law at Cornell University and a Doctor of Philosophy at Clare College, Cambridge University. He was admitted to the Bar in the State of Maine in 1965 and the Supreme Court of the United States in 1968. Dr. Wiswall worked with New York


admiralty and law fi rm Burlingham Under- wood (1967-1973) before taking on the role as Admiralty Counsel, Bureau of Maritime Aff airs for the Republic of Liberia (1973- 1988). He worked as Maritime Counsel at the International Bank in Washington DC and has been in private practice and consultation on admiralty and maritime international law since 1985. Dr. Wiswall was elected Vice-Chair of


the Legal Committee (1974-1979), Chair of the Legal Committee (1980-1984), and served as acting Chair for a number of Legal Committee sessions. During these periods, the Legal Com-


mittee achieved a great deal of work, includ- ing the drafting of articles and conventions in relation to wreck removal; limitation of liability for maritime claims; legal aspects of a draft international convention on search and rescue; extension of the 1969 Interna- tional Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (CLC) to oils not covered by that Convention; review of limits in the 1969 CLC and 1971 Fund Convention; the draft International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connec- tion with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea; consideration of salvage and the revision of the 1910 Sal- vage Convention; consideration of work in respect of maritime liens and mortgages. As well as his work as Chair and Vice- Chair of the Legal Committee, Dr. Wiswall played a proactive role at several interna- tional conferences convened by IMO. He was Chair of the Drafting Committee of the International Legal Conference on the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage on Board Ships, 1974; Chair of the Committee on Final Clauses of the International Confer- ence on Limitation of Liability for Maritime


Dr. Frank Wiswell receives International Maritime Prize.


Claims, 1976; and Chair of the Committee of the Whole of the International Conference on Liability and Compensation for Damage in connexion with the Carriage of Certain Substances by Sea, 1984. Shortly after his tenure as Chair of the


Legal Committee, Dr. Wiswall was asked by the then IMO Secretary-General to review a draft syllabus for the embryonic Internation- al Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) in Malta. Dr. Wiswall instantly became a strong be- liever in IMLI’s purpose as a capacity-build- ing and training institute, and began teaching at IMLI in 1990, visiting once or twice per year. He has lectured on a variety of topics including maritime legal history, maritime legislation drafting, law of maritime safety and the law of marine collisions. As a Member of IMLI’s Governing


Board from 1992 to the present, and a Mem- ber of the IMLI Academic Committee, Dr. Wiswall has made a signifi cant contribution to the training of lawyers from around the world in the drafting of international con- ventions, in the international regulation of maritime law through international conven- tions, including COLREGs and SOLAS, as well as in the incorporation of international conventions into national legislation. IMLI conferred on Dr. Wiswall the De-


gree of Honorary Professor of International Maritime Law in 1999, in recognition of his long service to the harmonization, pro- gressive development and codifi cation of international maritime law. Dr. Wiswall was also a visiting pro-


fessor at the World Maritime University (WMU) in Malmö, Sweden, from 1986 to 2003.


Dr. Wiswall has made an extensive con-


tribution to the work of the Comité Maritime International (CMI), which has consultative status at IMO. He was made a Titulary mem- ber of the CMI (1980); Executive Councillor (1989-1997); Vice President (1997-2005) and Chair of the CMI Constitutional Com- mittee (since 1992). Dr. Wiswall is a member of various law


associations and societies and has published a number of legal books, including The Development of Admiralty Jurisdiction and Practice Since 1800 (1970), and numerous papers and articles.


International Maritime Prize The International Maritime Prize is


awarded annually by IMO to the individual or organization judged to have made the most signifi cant contribution to the work and objectives of the Organization. It consists of a sculpture in the form of a dolphin and includes a fi nancial award, upon submission of an academic paper written on a subject relevant to IMO. IMO – the International Maritime Or-


ganization – is the United Nations special- ized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.


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