CMI

Comité Maritime International

2026 yCMI Essay Prize
Participation is invited to the 2026 CMI Young Persons' Essay Prize, with submissions to be received by the CMI secretariat via [email protected] and [email protected] by 31 March.
Further information:

2026 Nominations for CMI Executive Officers
9 January 2026
CMI Nominating Committee chair Giorgio Berlingieri <[email protected]> is calling for nominations for CMI executive officers by 10 February, ahead of elections to be held at the CMI assembly in Rio de Janeiro on 15 May.

CMI President's Letter No 25
6 January 2026
CMI president Ann Fenech shares her first letter of 2026.
Other relevant documents include:

CMI President's Letter No 23
9 October 2025
CMI president Ann Fenech has provided an update on current activities and focal points for her association.
Ms Fenech's four-page report specifically addresses the following:

Negotiable Cargo Documents “NCD”
the Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships
Questionnaire on Cybersecurity
Rio 2026

The seven-page questionnaire referenced can be viewed here.

CMI Executive Committee Announced
27 March 2025
Comité Maritime International (CMI) has announced a renewed Executive Committee, following a recent election.
The following executive officers were re-elected for a second term:

Ann Fenech – president
John O'Connor – vice-president
Frank Stevens – treasurer
Lawrence Teh – administrator
Funke Agbor – executive councillor
Tomotaka Fujita – member of the Nominating Committee

Six candidates were nominated for an additional, vacant executive councillor position.MLAANZ Australian vice-president Naraya Lamart notes in her March 2025 Semaphore report that one of those candidates was Michelle Taylor, the immediate past president of MLAANZ.
There were six eligible candidates and the following candidates received votes by CMI member associations:

Massimilian Musi, Italy – 15 votes
Jan-Erik Potschke, Germany – five votes
Michelle Taylor, Australia and New Zealand – four votes
Gen Goto, Japan – three votes

"[Michelle] was recently nominated by the president of the Swedish Maritime Law Association to join the Executive Committee of the Comité Maritime International (CMI)," states Ms Lamart."We extend our congratulations to Massimiliano Musi, who was the successful candidate appointed to the Executive Committee.
"Although ultimately unsuccessful in being appointed to this contested position, we also extend congratulations to Michelle on being held in such high esteem as to have been nominated."
A full report on the election can be viewed here.

yCMI ESSAY PRIZE 2022
20 December 2021
The Comité Maritime International (CMI) invites submissions for the 2022 Young Persons’ Essay Prize for original unpublished writing in the field of maritime law.
Topic for 2022 Essay
The CMI Assembly has decided not to prescribe a topic for the 2022 competition in order to open up the scope of the Essay to accommodate any topic of current relevance to maritime law. Entrants are however encouraged to visit the CMI website on work in progress – which may assist in choosing a suitable topic, as preference may be given in the adjudication process to essays covering topics currently under review by the CMI.
Eligibility
Candidates should be:

35 or younger on the closing date for entries (31 March 2022); and
a member of a CMI-member Maritime Law Association; or
if not such an MLA member, a person actively engaged in the practice, study or research of maritime law as prescribed in the Prize Rules. This status should be confirmed by a letter from a non-CMI member MLA, university, research institute, law firm or other employer. The letter should accompany the script

Deadline for Submissions
Submissions must be received by the CMI Secretariat by March 31, 2022.
Length of Essay
Max 6000 words (including footnotes, but excluding table of contents).
How and Where to Submit
By email to [email protected].
Anonymous Code
Candidates wishing to submit an essay shall apply to the CMI Secretary-General [email protected] for an anonymous submission code.
Each essay must then be submitted in electronic format anonymously, making use of the code provided. Any author who mentions his/her name in the essay shall be disqualified.
Full Rules and Criteria
Accessible via the CMI website or via this PDF.
The Prize
An invitation to attend the next CMI international event, in Antwerp from October 19-21, 2022, including travel from your home city, accommodation in Antwerp, CMI conference registration fee and a modest spending allowance. The winner will be invited to present a precis of his/her winning essay to the CMI’s gathering of the world’s leading maritime lawyers. The prize-winning essay will also be published on the CMI website.
This is the maritime world’s most prestigious prize for original writing.
Please note that the Prize Rules lay down strict requirements for timing, supporting documentation, structure, citation and format of entries. All requirements must be met by the closing date for a submission to be considered.
For further information contact Evelien Peeters [email protected] and secretary-[email protected].