The maritime sector faces increasing pressure to modernize dispute resolution systems as digitalization exposes known gaps in enforceability, procedural consistency, contractual comprehension, and cross-border risk, while also introducing uncertainties linked to emerging technological and legal challenges. This study evaluates the functionality of current maritime resolution systems and the limited uptake of the Rotterdam Rules—despite their objective to provide legal certainty and uniformity for multimodal carriage since 2009—highlighting their relevance to digital processes. It situates online dispute resolution (ODR) within maritime law by examining doctrinal compatibility with admiralty jurisprudence and established arbitration frameworks, including high-court interpretations of party autonomy, fairness, and evidence standards. The research adopts an institutional–organizational perspective to position the proposed political-institutional paradigm within broader public, private, and compliance-governance structures that guide system integrity and mitigate risks of noncompliance and embedded bias. It clarifies jurisdictional limits and liability transitions along end-to-end transport chains to support structured, platform-ready ODR pathways for multimodal disputes. The analysis also notes that existing treaty frameworks do not preclude the use of electronic processes, offering interpretive space for digital adjudication. The model emphasizes coordinated standard-setting by the International Maritime Organization, the Baltic and International Maritime Council, and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law to ensure neutral, legally harmonized, and technically reliable ODR protocols. In line with cooperative principles reflected in instruments such as the Law of the Sea Convention, this study affirms ODR as a complementary and forward-looking mechanism. Analysis of 194 maritime cases shows ODR can yield nonarbitrary, efficient, and cost-effective outcomes, complementing the gradual evolution of instruments such as the Rotterdam Rules.
Ahmed Hany M. Abuelenin (Sun,) studied this question.