Vessel-source Oil Pollution - Prevention and Compensation

Abstract: Marine pollution is an increasingly serious environmental problem. Close to half of the total marine pollution comes from vessels and the pollutant that is the most obvious is oil. Fortunately, this problem has been recognized almost all over the world. Vessel-source oil pollution has attracted large numbers of international legislation, as well as national. As we will see in this paper, it often takes a major disaster to get things moving in the right direction. It is, however, a little bit of a comfort to know that something good will come out of a bad maritime environmental accident. The scope and implications of marine pollution in general, and ship-source pollution in particular, are wide and transcend national boundaries and solutions. Therefore the rules and standards relating to pollution prevention should be discussed, adopted and implemented at an international level. During the second half of last century this was done with a great deal of success. Many international conventions, aiming at preventing and mitigating accidental pollution, reducing operational discharges and compensating oil pollution victims, were drafted and implemented. Despite some imperfections, they have had a substantial positive impact on decreasing oil pollution from ships. This paper tries to cover the most important international conventions concerning vessel-source oil pollution that exist today. It also discusses the approach of the United States in this field. One of the goals is to show some of the main differences between international and US legislation. The march towards successful protection of the marine environment requires the international community as a whole to continue the good work and develop new rules, standards and guidelines as needed. Only through diligent efforts will our oceans remain clean and healthy for future generations to come.