Maritime law is a fascinating blend of commercial law and environmental law, of private law and public law, of national law and international law. Characters include salvors and scuttlers, pirates and pilots, treasure hunters and tug owners. Maritime law unfolds against the most dramatic of backdrops, such as war and invasion, storms and pollution disasters. It addresses issues as diverse as the liability of carriers of goods to the exploitation of fish stocks, the legal response to stowaways to the insurance response to smuggling.