This chapter will assess the features of maritime cabotage law as seen in the regulatory framework of countries with a maritime cabotage regime. The objective is to demonstrate how the law informs the Understanding of a cabotage-controlled concept in the national and regional domains. We will look at how the various features of maritime cabotage law affect the commercial behaviour of shipowners and how the application of the law impacts on the economic development of a country. The principal features of maritime cabotage are that the ship: must be built in the cabotage country; it must be owned by a national of the cabotage country; it must employ only or mainly indigenous crew; and it must be registered and documented in the cabotage country. Some commentators refer to the above features as pillars of maritime cabotage.1 However, this may be considered a fundamental misconception because the above characteristics cannot be the basis for any country to enact a maritime cabotage law. It is suggested instead that the pillars upon which the maritime cabotage law of a country is premised are sovereignty, economic development and national security. These are the reasons why countries enact maritime cabotage laws. As we have given sufficient coverage to these pillars throughout this book, we will now focus on the features of maritime cabotage law.