Ship Security Rules in China’s Maritime Traffic Safety Law: Increased Legal Flexibility in Maritime Security Measures and Potential Problems

Abstract China recently amended its Maritime Traffic Safety Law (MTSL2021) and has introduced a series of stipulations concerning ship security. In these ship security rules, flexibility has been maintained in the decision to adopt maritime security measures in cases when ship operators and Chinese maritime authorities face maritime security threats. This research examines the ship security rules in MTSL2021, analyses how the rules’ ambiguities could provide flexibility as well as uncertainties in practical implementation, and explores how they may affect the law’s institutional coordination with other domestic laws and regulations as well as China’s maritime law enforcement coordination with other countries.