Ship-source Pollution Research Articles

The liability of salvors towards third parties in case of environmental salvage: Economic analysis

Marine salvors play a crucial role in rendering emergency response to maritime accidents. Their services generate positive externalities for preventing or minimizing damage to property and the environment. However, due to the uncertainties in environmental salvage, the services could also lead to further harm to third parties through acts of negligence. A negligent salvor is not immune to legal obligations but the legal risks of liability should not be excessively high to discourage them from providing socially desirable services. This article examines the consequences of salvorial negligence in environmental salvage in light of economic analysis of law as well as certain maritime law notions such as channeling provisions and limitation of liability. It concludes that given the uncertainties in determining, among other things, the levels of care involved, there is a danger that too strict a liability regime might deter salvors from engaging in environmental salvage. The legal regimes examined may grant a salvor immunity from liability for simple negligence but issues involving the international ship-source pollution compensation regime and public intervention can still discourage them from carrying out environmental salvage.

Prevention and control of ship-source pollution in the Arctic shipping routes: challenges and countermeasures

Ship-source pollution is one of the important contributors to marine environment pollution. Because the legal status of the Arctic shipping routes is not clear, there is a considerable degree of dispute in the application of the rules on the prevention and control of ship-source pollution. The increased melting of sea ice undermines the legal legitimacy of the “ice-covered areas” clause under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The conflict between the application of the Polar Code and “ice-covered areas” will also reach an initial conclusion in the context of melting sea ice. However, the inadequacy of ship-source pollution rules in the Polar Code hampers its application, which has led to a negative impact on the more active role in the governance of pollution from Arctic shipping. For replying to the Challenges in the prevention of ship-source pollution in Arctic shipping routes, the relevant rules of the Polar Code need to be further improved, while a more binding HFO ban according to ship types needs to be applied. Therefore, a more important role in the future Arctic governance mechanism will be played by the enhanced enforcement of the Polar Code, meanwhile, the target for uniform international regulation of preventing and controlling ship-source pollution in Arctic shipping routes should be achieved.

The Study of the Laws of Vietnam to Prevent and Control Marine Environmental Pollution from Ship's Garbage

The Vietnam Maritime Administration has established and dominated the seaborne cargo transportation market in Vietnam in order to prevent pollution of the marine environment from ship-source pollution as well as other sources from ships. The issue of marine pollution caused by trash, sewage, and air pollution from ships is then present, parallel to that development. One of these sources that has a negative effect on the quality of seawater in Vietnam is ship waste, which is regarded as one of the primary sources of pollutants. Additionally, the existence of plastics and microplastics, which have a diameter of less than 5 mm, has a detrimental impact on both the marine environment and human health. Therefore, Vietnam's crucial task going forward is to swiftly add laws to prevent and regulate marine environmental pollution brought on by ship waste. The method proposed is to study the participation, implementation of International Conventions, and improvement of laws of other countries. The author offers valuable experiences for Vietnam to quickly improve laws in this field.

Impact of Sulphur Emission Control Areas on port state control’s inspection outcome

ABSTRACT With the rapiddevelopment of internationalshipping, ship source pollution is increasingly non-negligible. To control emissions of sulphur oxides from ships, many Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECAs) have been established, in which stricter emission restriction policies were implemented. Because there are some genuine connections between SECA and PSC (Port State Control), it is natural to ask whether will the SECA policy make a difference on PSC’s inspection outcome? Therefore, this study investigates the effect of the SECA establishment, reflected by changes in the deficiency rate in PSC inspections, on the PSC’s inspection result. The deficiency rate in PSC inspections represents the percentage of deficiencies in the ship inspected, which can embody the overall outcome of the PSC inspections. It employs the difference-in-differences (DID) model to evaluate the effect as which is a common and mature tool for evaluating policy effectiveness. Robustness tests of parallel trend and Placebo tests both confirm the appropriateness of the DID model. The empirical results find that after the implementation of the SECA emission control policies, PSC inspections become stricter, thus changing the rate of deficiencies recorded during those inspections. A more stringent SECA policy is beneficial to identify more deficiencies and further ensure ships’ compliance.

Ship-Source Spills – it's More Than Just Oil

Abstract For over 50 years, ITOPF has attended on-site at marine spills worldwide on behalf of the shipping industry. ITOPF staff have provided objective technical advice at over 800 incidents in 100 countries, gaining unparalleled insight into changing trends in ship-source pollution. Spills of oil were originally the focus of ITOPF's activities, initially from tankers and later from a wide range of ships. Over time, there has been a dramatic and sustained reduction in both the number of oil spills and the quantity of oil spilt from tankers, as ITOPF's statistics demonstrate. Though spills of oil cargoes and bunker fuel remain at the core of ITOPF's work, its activities have expanded in recent years to include other pollutants, such as vegetable oils, hazardous and non-hazardous chemicals, coal, foodstuffs, plastics and the myriad of other products transported in container ships. Almost two thirds of the incidents ITOPF attends now involve non-tankers and in the past 20 years, 14% of all attended incident involved products or substances other than, or in addition to, oil. Oil spill events can cause environmental damage and typically attract considerable media attention. However, other marine pollutants also have the potential to cause environmental damage and pose significant challenges for responders. This paper draws on ITOPF's first-hand experience to examine some of the recent trends in spill response, using case histories to highlight key issues involved with the response of spills of assorted oils and cargoes at sea.

Compulsory civil liability insurance, financial security: An integral component of compensation for ship-source oil pollution damage

Oil pollution damage caused by oil spills at sea generally occurs on a large scale across numerous regions and countries, causing significant harm to marine ecosystems as well as worldwide economic loss. The costs are so severe in many instances that the owner of the ship responsible for the pollution cannot afford to pay compensation to those who have suffered loss. As a consequence, the need to cover oil pollution damages has given rise to compulsory liability insurance, which provides a financial guarantee against the costs of oil spills. Compulsory civil liability insurance has therefore become an indispensable part of the liability regime for owners of oil tankers and bunkers.

Policy-oriented analysis on the navigational rights of unmanned merchant ships

ABSTRACT The emergence of unmanned merchant ships will challenge the existing international shipping law and practice. Many legal issues regarding unmanned ships under international law await clarification, and the issues involving navigational rights are at the top of the list. This article aims to examine the navigational rights of unmanned merchant ships under the established international regulatory framework for global shipping. We find that many States, particularly the coastal States, may hold a cautious view regarding the international navigation of unmanned ships, because of uncertainties in terms of safety and reliability, questions about seaworthiness and manning, and the potential ship-source pollution incidents. Hence, we make the following suggestions: first, the International Maritime Organization plays a more proactive role in interpreting and implementing the existing rules on international navigation. Second, that flag States, coastal States, port States collaborate and consider filling the existing regulatory gaps to facilitate the development of unmanned merchant ships and to justify their navigational rights.

THE PRESCRIPTIVE AND ENFORCEMENT JURISDICTION OF A COASTAL STATE IN RELATION TO SHIP SOURCE POLLUTION OCCURS IN ITS VARIOUS MARITIME ZONES, UNDER THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA AND THE CUSTOMARY INTERNATIONAL LAW

The coastal state jurisdiction is the jurisdiction enjoyed by a coastal state in relation to breaches of regulations and laws by foreign flagged ships that take place within its various jurisdictional zones. The prescriptive and enforcement jurisdiction comprise the main power of a coastal state. Prescriptive is the jurisdiction to prescribe laws and regulations, while enforcement is the jurisdiction to enforce such laws. The rights and obligations of a state in relation to navigation and pollution are determined primarily by international conventions and customary international law. The 1982 Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) is the most widely ratified convention in this field of law, outlining the rights and obligations of the states in relation to their variousmaritmezones as well as with respect to environmental protection.States have under UNCLOS the obligation to protect and preserve the marine environment and they are also under an obligation to take measures jointly or individually to reduce and prevent, control and reduce pollution of the marine environment from any source including the atmosphere and from vessels.In relation to ship source pollution there are various obligations.

Civil liability for ship -source oil pollution damage: should Vietnam join FUND 1992?

ABSTRACT Currently, international civil liability law has three tiers of compensation for damage caused by ship-source oil pollution, based on The International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage 1992 (CLC 1992), The International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage 1992 Fund 1992 (FUND 1992) and The Supplementary Fund Protocol. Currently, Vietnam only participated in CLC 1992, so the Vietnamese legal framework for civil liability for harm caused by ships-source oil pollution has been significantly strengthened. However, the compensation for damages is not really consistent with the actual damage that occurred. Besides, the oil spill in Vietnam’s waters is fairly large, for many reasons. Thus, the question arises whether or not Vietnam should join FUND 1992. Based on the analysis of the additions of FUND 1992 compared to CLC 1992, as well as the actual situation, the legal system, the economy of Vietnam, the author will point out the advantages and disadvantages when Vietnam joined FUND 1992.

Environmentally sound Management of Ship Wastes: challenges and opportunities for European ports

Ship wastes are incidentally regulated within the regime of marine pollution and the prevention of ship-source pollution is heavily reliant on the provision of adequate port reception facilities on land. However, the coordination between these facilities and further downstream management operations is still an unresolved issue. This paper examines from a legal perspective the challenges and opportunities related to the management of wastes generated on-board vessels after they are discharged to port reception facilities. Ship wastes are studied from a European Union (EU) law perspective and the author evaluates the integration of ship waste management within wider EU waste legislation and national waste management plans.

Regulation of ship-source pollution in the Baltic Sea

The article explores governance structures in shipping with a particular focus on the regulation of environmental protection in the Baltic Sea. Traditionally shipping is regulated in a centralized and hierarchical manner at global level, but in the past few decades a series of developments have taken place providing for a more multi-faceted picture of how environmental protection from shipping is governed in the Baltic Sea and beyond. This article focuses on assessing the existing rules on ship-source pollution from the perspectives of regulatory layers and nature of the rules. It concludes that the key features defining shipping, such as the global nature of the business and the tradition of global rules, continue to play a very dominant role in its regulation. However, a gradual differentiation of regulatory authority has occurred, not least following a more active role taken by the European Union in certain aspects of shipping regulation in the past few decades. The last part of this article focuses on broader governance issues, discussing other kinds of steering mechanisms than legislation and the role of non-governmental actors in the field. It is concluded that while shipping is still governed differently than most other sectors of marine environmental protection, a number of developments, notably in the field of ships' air emissions, have contributed to a more varied governance system in the past years.

THE INTERNATIONAL LAW REGARDING SHIP-SOURCE POLLUTION LIABILITY AND COMPENSATION: EVOLUTION AND CURRENT CHALLENGES

THE INTERNATIONAL LAW REGARDING SHIP-SOURCE POLLUTION LIABILITY AND COMPENSATION: EVOLUTION AND CURRENT CHALLENGES

Regulatory Influences on Environmental Protection: Why Shipping Companies Comply and When They Don't

ABSTRACTThis article reports the findings of an empirical study on the regulation of ship-source pollution at one United Kingdom-based global ship management company. In examining the corporate response of the case-study company, particular attention is given to the regulatory influences promoting such compliance as expressed in the views of company executives. The findings show that both legal regulatory pressures and customer demands are important factors in encouraging the company to comply with environmental requirements. However, the study also revealed that compliance with environmental requirements ultimately depends on the way in which individual companies adapt to different national regulatory and enforcement regimes.

A survey of the legal and policy framework for controlling, compensating and criminalizing ship-source pollution in Hong Kong

Hong Kong (HK) has enacted laws providing: (1) Regimes that address pollution prevention responsibilities for parties involved in shipping activities to ensure that ships used in HK waters comply with applicable rules and standards; (2) civil damages remedy for wrongful death, personal injury or property damage caused by an environmental incident; and (3) a system of penalties to address the rare cases where the behavior of the polluter is considered intolerable and must be punished as a criminal offence. Being acquainted with this legal and policy framework is of beneficial interest for the maritime industry in HK. This article first summarizes the existing general legal framework, and later presents the results of an empirical study to determine what repercussions there could be within the HK maritime industry as a result of these laws and policies being applied in cases that result in civil liability compensation and criminal charges. The empirical research demonstrates that the laws and policies are in general sufficient and effective, but that flaws still remain in the limitation of liability scheme, as well as uncertainties as to which particular kinds of environmental violations should result in either civil or criminal enforcement. To address these concerns, it is first suggested that HK should impose greater liability in areas where prior law provided insufficient liability, as this will act as a more potent deterrent; and second, that HK should clearly delineate an appropriate role for criminal enforcement in the environmental regulatory scheme, so as to lessen concerns about over-criminalization.

EXTRATERRITORIALITY FROM THE PORT: EU’S APPROACH TO JURISDICTION OVER SHIP-SOURCE POLLUTION

Ship-source pollution represents a threat to the environment, regardless of where it occurs. The European Union has been developing standards that aim to counter accidental, operational and intentional pollution in the waters under its member-state’s jurisdiction. However, and precisely because marine pollution knows no boundaries, the EU is not coy in contemplating what ships do beyond waters under the sovereignty of its member states. This article analyses the international lawfulness of EU claims to port state jurisdiction over ship-source pollution. It demonstrates that port state jurisdiction is today not only a means to ensure compliance with international standards but also a means to unilaterally enforce more stringent environmental standards.

A feasibility assessment of the application of the Polluter-Pays Principle to ship-source pollution in Hong Kong

This article aims to assess the feasibility of applying the Polluter-Pays Principle (PPP) to its fullest measure in counteracting ship-source pollution in Hong Kong (HK). Ship-source pollution is of chief concern for HK׳s marine environmental protection. A comprehensive legal and policy framework has already been established to control and remedy ship-source pollution; nevertheless, the costs of implementing measures under this framework are largely undertaken by the government or through the public avenue, leading to an inconsistency with PPP, which is a principle rooted in HK environmental policy. Through an intensive literature review and questionnaire survey, the results of this study have revealed that the adequacy and/or effectiveness of the existing legal and policy framework for controlling and remedying ship-source pollution are questionable. In addition, despite varied understandings of PPP, the industry also supports the adoption of innovative legal and policy measures to apply PPP to its fullest measure in order to better control and remedy ship-source pollution. These findings provide useful evidence, and enable meaningful reflection on the existing legal and policy framework covering ship-source pollution.

China's 2012 Regime for Compensation for Vessel Source Oil Pollution: A Comparative Study

The International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund is a successful international scheme providing supplementary compensation for vessel source oil pollution damage. Some domestic schemes such as the Ship-Source Oil Pollution Fund in Canada and the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund in the United States have also been successful. China established its Vessel-Source Oil Pollution Compensation Fund in July 2012. This article examines the international and domestic schemes that provide supplementary compensation for vessel source oil pollution and makes some suggestions for amendment of the newly established Chinese national compensation fund.

Criminal Penalties for Ship-Source Pollution in the Environmental Legislation

As maritime pollution typically leads to cross-border dimension, environmental crime is one of the concerns of the European Union. Directive 2005/35/EC on ship-sources pollution and the introduction of penalties for infringements contains a precise definition of the infringements along with the rule that they will be subject to effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties. At the time of adoption of Council Framework Decision 2005/667/JHA the Member States agreed that the ship-source pollution committed with intent, recklessly or with serous negligence should be considered a criminal offence. Following annulment of the mentioned Council Framework Decision, the Commission proposes to adopt the directive without changing the substance. In author’s opinion environmental legislation in addition to civil liability system in accordance with the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), 1973/78, as amended, should be reinforced by a system of criminal penalties at the level of the European Community bearing in mind that criminalising unintentional act is counterproductive in that it is a discouragement both for the seafarers and to the accident investigation.

EU Environmental Crime and Punishment

Environmental crimes often have a transnational aspect and constitute a serious and growing problem that needs to be tackled at European level. Recent developments under the Lisbon Treaty can be regarded as an unambiguous authorisation for the reconsideration of all criminal law related regulation, including the current Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament, and of the Council on the protection of the environment through criminal law in light of the new legal environment. The reconsideration is particularly relevant in so far as the 2008 directive does not lay down measures concerning the procedural part of criminal law, nor does it touch upon the powers of police, prosecutors or judges. Moreover, it does not contain provisions on the role of Europol/Eurojust in the fight against environmental crime. However, in accordance with Europol’s envisaged role by the Stockholm Programme, a former proposal made by the Danish government back in 2000 intended to include Europol in this work. It should also be emphasised that the investigation of environmental crime has its own difficulties. These difficulties multiply when the offence has a cross-border aspect and the cooperation of more than one member state’s law enforcement authority is required. The available legal tools in this regard are also emerging within the EU, and t need to be analysed. The creation of the so-called “EnviCrimeNet” 2011 is promising, however it a purely informal cooperation of national law enforcement experts, sharing non-operational information.In light of the post Lisbon EU legal framework, the current directive for environmental crime needs to be reassessed. The problem was also recognised by the Action Plan Implementing the Stockholm Programme, when it called for legislative proposals that would supplement Directive 2008/99/EC by protecting the environment through criminal law and Directive 2009/123/EC on ship-source pollution. This dissertation will focus on the potential for further development in the context of territorially based environmental crime.

Have Rules of Major Maritime Conventions Led to a Reduction in Ship-source Accidental Pollution? A Correlation Issue

Have Rules of Major Maritime Conventions Led to a Reduction in Ship-source Accidental Pollution? A Correlation Issue