Abstract: Indonesia is a maritime country with a wider ocean area, namely 2000 Km of land area of 1000 Km which consists of 17,544 islands so it really needs sea transportation as the backbone of the economy and as a unifier of the nation. Since March 1, 1938 (Dutch Colonial era) it has had an institution called the Shipping Court as a professional court whose job is to examine the causes of ship accidents and to impose sanctions on the captain or ship officer who is proven guilty of applying maritime professional standards. The position of the Shipping Court is currently under the Ministry of Transportation so that its authority is very limited and does not yet cover matters arising from ship accidents.