Dafni Eirini Melitsi, an LLM International Shipping Law Student at Queen Mary University of London, won the competition for her research on GHG Emissions; an Opportunity for an Environmental Activist to Arrest a Vessel?"
It focuses on analysing the prerequisites under English law for a claim to constitute “damage done by a ship” to establish whether a claim for damage by excessive GHG emissions, breaching permissible levels stipulated by international regulations, meets these criteria and could, therefore, enable an environmental activist to arrest the ship. It concludes that this is actually a possibility and a claim for damage by GHG emissions could lead to the arrest of the vessel.
The majority of the people attending the competition and the panel highlighted the commercial importance of her findings. If English courts indeed accept such a position, shipowners will face the severe financial and commercial consequences of ship arrest. Amidst international efforts for decarbonisation, it is quite a crucial matter.
On winning the competition, Dafni said: “This experience was unique for me. I found myself among outstanding peers and young professionals from across the shipping world, witnessing how the shipping industry magically connects people with diverse professional backgrounds. It has always been my dream to live and work in London and being honored with such an award is an utterly humbling start to my career as a shipping lawyer in London.”
Filip Šaranović, Senior Lecturer in Shipping Law at Queen Mary, nominated Dafni and mentored her during the research. Queen Mary is the only university to win the competition twice, after Tessa Jones won the inaugural competition in 2018.