Related Research Articles
The International Maritime Organization is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating maritime transport. The IMO was established following agreement at a UN conference held in Geneva in 1948 and the IMO came into existence ten years later, meeting for the first time on 17 March 1958. Headquartered in London, United Kingdom, the IMO, in 2024, has 176 Member States and three Associate Members.
The Convention for the Unification of certain rules relating to international carriage by air, commonly known as the Warsaw Convention, is an international convention which regulates liability for international carriage of persons, luggage, or goods performed by aircraft for reward.
The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978, or "MARPOL 73/78" is one of the most important international marine environmental conventions. It was developed by the International Maritime Organization with an objective to minimize pollution of the oceans and seas, including dumping, oil and air pollution.
Flag of convenience (FOC) is a business practice whereby a ship's owners register a merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ensign of that country, called the flag state. The term is often used pejoratively, and although common, the practice is sometimes regarded as contentious.
The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) was passed by the 101st United States Congress and signed by President George H. W. Bush. It works to avoid oil spills from vessels and facilities by enforcing removal of spilled oil and assigning liability for the cost of cleanup and damage; requires specific operating procedures; defines responsible parties and financial liability; implements processes for measuring damages; specifies damages for which violators are liable; and establishes a fund for damages, cleanup, and removal costs. This statute has resulted in instrumental changes in the oil production, transportation, and distribution industries.
Protection and indemnity insurance, more commonly known as P&I insurance, is a form of mutual maritime insurance provided by a P&I club. Whereas a marine insurance company provides "hull and machinery" cover for shipowners, and cargo cover for cargo owners, a P&I club provides cover for open-ended risks that traditional insurers are reluctant to insure. Typical P&I cover includes: a carrier's third-party risks for damage caused to cargo during carriage; war risks; and risks of environmental damage such as oil spills and pollution. In the UK, both traditional underwriters and P&I clubs are subject to the Marine Insurance Act 1906.
The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Courier is an American maritime classification society established in 1862. Its stated mission is to promote the security of life, property, and the natural environment, primarily through the development and verification of standards for the design, construction and operational maintenance of marine and offshore assets.
The Prestige oil spill occurred off the coast of Galicia, Spain in November 2002, caused by the sinking of the 26-year-old, structurally deficient oil tanker MV Prestige, carrying 77,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil. During a storm, it burst a tank on 13 November, and French, Spanish, and Portuguese governments refused to allow the ship to dock. The vessel subsequently sank on 19 November, about 210 kilometres (130 mi) from the coast of Galicia. It is estimated that it spilled 60,000 tonnes or a volume of 67,000 m3 (17.8 million US gal) of heavy fuel oil.
Assuranceforeningen Skuld (Gjensidig) is an international marine insurance mutual based in Oslo, Norway that specializes in protection and indemnity insurance and marine insurance. Total premium income for 2023/24 was US$527 million. In addition to Oslo, Skuld has offices in Bergen, Bermuda, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Hong Kong, London, New York, Piraeus, Singapore and Tokyo.
Admiralty law in the United States is a matter of federal law.
The Erika legislative packages of the European Union are maritime laws intended to improve safety in the shipping industry and thereby reduce environmental damage to the oceans.
Offshore oil spill prevention and response is the study and practice of reducing the number of offshore incidents that release oil or hazardous substances into the environment and limiting the amount released during those incidents.
The International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, 1992, often referred to as FUND92 or FUND, is an international maritime treaty, administered by the International Maritime Organization. The original FUND convention in 1969 was drawn up as an enhancement to CLC meant on one hand to relieve shipowners from unfair liabilities due to unforeseeable circumstances and on the other hand remove liability caps that some member states thought were too low. The fund is obliged to pay victims of pollution when damages exceed the shipowner's liability, when there is no liable shipowner, or when the shipowner is unable to pay its liability. The fund is also required to "indemnify the shipowner or his insurer" in spills where a ship is in full compliance with international conventions, and no wilful misconduct caused the spill.
The Hong Kong International Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships, or Hong Kong Convention, is a multilateral convention adopted in 2009, which has not entered into force. The conference that created the convention was attended by 63 countries, and overseen by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The Torrey Canyon oil spill was one of the world's most serious oil spills. The supertanker SS Torrey Canyon ran aground on rocks off the south-west coast of the United Kingdom in 1967, spilling an estimated 25–36 million gallons of crude oil. Attempts to mitigate the damage included the bombing of the wreck by aircraft from the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. Hundreds of miles of coastline in Britain, France, Guernsey, and Spain were affected by the oil and other substances used to mitigate damage. It was the world's worst oil spill and led to significant changes in maritime law and oil spill responses.
International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation (OPRC) is an international maritime convention establishing measures for dealing with marine oil pollution incidents nationally and in co-operation with other countries. As of November 2018, there are 112 state parties to the convention.
International Convention Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties 1969 is an international maritime convention affirming the right of a coastal State to "take such measures on the high seas as may be necessary to prevent, mitigate or eliminate grave and imminent danger to their coastline or related interests from pollution or threat of pollution of the sea by oil, following upon a maritime casualty or acts related to such a casualty".
The HNS Convention is an international convention created in 1996 to compensate for damages caused by spillage of hazardous and noxious substances during maritime transportation. The convention is officially known as the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, 1996. The convention has not entered into force due to signatory states not meeting the ratification requirements. Canada, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, and Turkey signed the 2010 protocol to the convention.
The International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage (BUNKER) is an International treaty listed and administered by the International Maritime Organization, signed in London on 23 March 2001 and in force generally on 21 November 2008. The purpose is to adopt uniform international rules and procedures for determining questions of liability and providing adequate compensation.
The London P&I Club abbreviated also London Club, and The London Steam-Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Limited is a group of protection and indemnity insurance (P&I) companies for mutual maritime insurance representing global ship-owners, founded and registered in England 1866, incorporated in 1875. The London Club offers FD&D insurance and war risk insurance. It is a member of the International Group of P&I Clubs, an umbrella for thirteen separate clubs insuring 90% of the world's ocean-going freighters.
References
- 1 2 International Maritime Organization on the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (CLC), 1969 Archived 16 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ R. Bhanu Krishna Kiran, "Liability and Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage: An examination of IMO Convention", NUJS LAW REVIEW, 2 January 2015, Accessed on 1 July 2017
- ↑ HNS Convention Legal Framework, archived from the original on 1 February 2014, retrieved 13 February 2014
- ↑ "International Maritime Organization – Status of Conventions". Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
- ↑ MARISEC (2009). Shipping Industry Flag State Performance Table (PDF). London: Maritime International Secretariat Services. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
- ↑ "LIABILITY AND COMPENSATION FOR SHIP-SOURCE OIL POLLUTION" (PDF). unctad.org. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. 31 January 2012. pp. 20, 23. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
[p20:] in some cases, substantial compensation may be available under applicable national law, as for instance in the case of the United States Oil Pollution Act 1990 (OPA 1990). [and p23:] [Non-signatories] includes notably the United States, where, however, strong national legislation to provide for liability and compensation has been enacted.