The National Assembly on 30th April 2003 passed the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act (the Cabotage Act) into Law. It was stipulated that the provisions of the Cabotage Act would become enforceable from 1st May 2004. The much awaited guidelines for the implementation of the provisions of the Cabotage Act were eventually released by the Honourable Minister of Transport on 7th of June 2004. We intend to give an overview of the guidelines in this newsletter.