Charting Our Own Courses: The Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore Journeys in Maritime Law

• Author: The Honourable Justice Steven Chong
• Position: I would like to record my appreciation to my law clerk, Scott Tan, for his assistance in the preparation of this address
• Pages: 1-11

(2016) 30 ANZ Mar LJ

1

The 42nd Annual MLAANZ Conference

PERTH

16 Septembe r 2015

Frank Stuart Dethridge Memorial Address

CHARTING OUR OWN COURSES: THE AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND

SINGAPORE JOURNEYS IN MARITIME LAW

The Hono urab le Justice Stev e n C ho ng *

1 My Own Voyage Begins

I am deeply honoured to be invited to deliver this address. When the late Mr Frank Dethridge first conceived the

idea of establishing a maritime law association i n the early 1970s, I dare say that he would not have dreamt t hat,

more than 40 years on, it would grow to be as successful as it now is. It is a meas ure of the respect and esteem

with which he is held that, since 1977, an annual lecture has been delivered each year in his memory by such

luminaries as Sir Anthony Mason, Justice Michael Kirby, Justice Steven Rares, and Lord Cooke of Thorndon,

just to name a few.1 Like Justice Waung in 2 008, I approached this task with no small measure of trepidation,

conscious that I follow in the wake of the giants who have preceded me.2

The process o f preparing for this speech has been an opportunity for p ersonal reflection and introspection. I n a

sense, my career in shipping law can be traced back to 1977, the year the first me morial address was delivered.

By then, I had secured a place in law school and was serving as a young midshipman in the Singapore Navy. As

part of my training, I served onboard the RSS Endurance3 which sailed for Dar win in 1977. The grand ol’ dame

— an LST-542 Class tank landing ship — was then the pride of the Republic of Singapore Navy, having recently

been purchased i n 1975. In its previous incarnation, it was the USS Hol mes County, which first sa w service in

Okinawa in the closing years of World War II before being deployed in Korea and, later, in Vietnam. By the time

it was sold to Singapore, it was the proud owner of four battle stars (one earned for service in World War II, three

in the Korean War) and 11 campaign stars garnered during the Vietnam War.4 Thankfully, the b attle stars ceased

after she was acquired by Singapore.

As you might imagine, the old lady did not like to be hurried. Her RSN motto was “slowly, but eventually” —

when you consider that she moved at the stately pace of 8 knots an hour (with currents assisting), you can well

understand why. Given that almost 3,500 km lies between S ingapore and Darwin, you will appreciate that it was

a painfully slow and long voyage. I spent my days practising the ancient craft of seamanship: I got up before the

break of dawn to shoot the stars with my sextant (whic h has since been “decommissioned” and now sits in my

chambers as a conversation piece), I chipped away the rust which covered the deck — a daily ritual — and I spent

endless hours interpreting Morse code in order to earn my much coveted shore leave. (The passing mark was

initially 90% but it had to be reduced to 80% to ensure that at least some midshipmen could board the liberty

boat!) In between, time was gainfully spent staring at the ocean, serenaded by the cries of seagulls and the dull

steady throb of the ship’s engines. Somehow, in the midst of all that — lurching between bouts of frenzied

activities interspersed with period s of intolerable monotony — I fell in love with the sea. And that love for the

sea, combined with my i nterest in shipping law (which is essentially contract and tort together with private

international law) confirmed my future vocation as a shipping lawyer.

* I would like to record my appreciation to my law clerk, Scott Tan, for his assistance in the preparation of this address.

1 They were the speakers in the years 1998, 2007, 2013, and 1989 respectively.

2 William Waung, Frank Stuart Dethridge Memorial Address 2004, ‘Maritime Law of Priorities: Equity Justice and Certainty’ (2005) 19

Australian and New Zealand Maritime Law Journal.

3 Not to be confused with its successor, the Endurance Class LST-207, which was built in 1997 and commissioned in March 2000: see <

http://www.mindef.gov.sg/navy/careers/our-assets/endurance-class-landing-ship- tank.html> (accessed 25 August 2015).

4 Gary P Priolo, ‘USS Holmes County (LST-836) ex USS LST-836’ http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/16/160836.htm (accessed 24

August 2015).