Subsea Gas Pipelines in the Baltic Sea Area – Civil Liability Issues

Abstract

The chapter focuses on legal issues linked to subsea gas pipelines, which have received transnational relevance in the Baltic Sea region through the Nord Stream pipeline between Russia and Germany. It includes a brief review of the legal basis of offshore activities, more generally and in the Baltic Sea. The main focus of the text is on civil liability issues linked to damage involving such pipelines, covering anything from different damage scenarios to questions related to liable persons and compensable loss, but also includes some choice of law aspects to the questions. It is concluded that a number of regulatory gaps exist in this area, but that an international regulatory regime on civil liability matters linked to subsea pipelines might still not be necessary.