The Seminar on responsibility and liability in the maritime context, papers of which are published in this volume, dealt with the rules of the law of the sea and of maritime law governing these issues in order to realize similarities and differences in both fields of law which constitute the law of maritime affairs. Participants of the Seminar, which took place in July 2008 in the Premises of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, were scholars and associates of the International Max Planck Research School for Maritime Affairs (IMPRS) and students of the Law Faculty, University of Hamburg.