Maritime Pollution Liability and Policy. China, Europe and the U.S.

Too many oil spills have given dramatic evidence of the inadequacy of international conventions designed to prevent and/or compensate for maritime pollution damage. In the light of the ecological disaster caused by such incidents and the huge economic consequences for the population of the zones affected, various concerned parties around the world are deeply committed to the goals of optimizing legal mechanisms to prevent and deter maritime pollution incidents as well as providing better and more efficient compensation of victims. One of the more notable conferences dedicated to this purpose was sponsored by the Institute of International Maritime Law of Dalian Maritime University in conjunction with the Maastricht European Institute for Transnational Legal Research in June 2009. This important book is a record of that conference. Twenty-nine authors – academics, lawyers, and officials of relevant agencies, from China, Europe, and the United States – here offer thorough analysis of the overt and underlying legal issues with which this difficult matter is fraught, including the following: • imposition of financial caps; • competence of authorities; • criminal sanctions for non-compliance; • parties to criminal liability; • territorial scope of state police power; • relevance and application of the public trust doctrine; • carriage of dangerous substances by sea; • fair treatment of seafarers; • role of the ‘protection and indemnity clubs’; • monitoring and inspections of ships as an aspect of criminal law; and • insurance coverage for fines. The approach throughout is both legal multi-disciplinary and comparative. The relevant international conventions are examined (particularly the ‘Bunker Convention’ of 2008), with particular attention to their implementation in China and Europe, as well as the independent U.S. regime. In addition, detailed empirical data from well-known case studies provide important insights into the working of international and national prevention and compensation mechanisms. Through a critical review of the current structure of prevention and compensation for oil pollution damage, this book opens the door to a further restructuring of conventions (or national legislation), clarifying the dimensions of the crucial discussion about of how an optimal enforcement of oil pollution legislation can be achieved and who should bear the costs. It will be hugely valuable to policymakers and practitioners dealing with this most daunting and urgent of international legal problems.

List of Contributors. List of Abbreviations. 1. Introduction; M. Faure, Han Lixin and Shan Hongjun. Part I: General Issues in Prevention and Compensation of Marine Pollution Damage. 2. Prevention and Compensation for Marine Pollution; Wang Hui. 3. Marine Pollution and the Right of Entry in Maritime Ports for Ships in Distress; E. Somers. 4. Lost Ecosystem Goods and Services as a Measure of Marine Damages; J. Boyd. 5. Liability and Compensation for Environmental Damage Caused by Ship-Source Oil Pollution: Actionability of Claims; P. Mukherjee. 6. Funds’ Admissibility Criteria for Pure Economic Loss Claims v. British Judicial Stand: Complementary or Contradictory? B. Soyer. 7. Is the Polluter Pays Principle Really Fundamental? An Economic Explanation of the Relative Unimportance of Environmental Liability and Taxes in U.S. Environmental Law; J.S. Johnston. Part II: The Bunker Convention. 8. The Era after Bunker Convention: Is the Gap in China Regime for Compensating Victims of Vessel-Source Oil Spills Filled? Shan Hongjun. 9. Discussion on Limitation of Liability and Compulsory Insurance of Compensation for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage from Ships in China; Han Lixin, Wang Dapeng. Part III: Criminal Law. 10. Criminal Liability for Oil Pollution Damage: An Economic Analysis; M. Faure. 11. Criminal Liability and Vessel Source Pollution in the European Union and the United States: Inspiration for the Prevention of Vessel-Source Pollution in China? Liu Nengye, F. Maes. 12. Criminal Liability of Master and Crew in Oil Pollution Cases: A Possible Conflict between the Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS), MARPOL and the European Directive 2005/35/EC; M. Huybrechts. 13. Criminal Liabilities for Ship-Source Pollution – Based on the Laws of China; Jiang Yuechuan. 14. Civil and Criminal Liabilities concerning Marine Pollution in Hongkong; Li Lianjun, Mu Qin. Part IV: United States. 15. A Comparison of the Recovery of Compensation for Injury to Natural Resources under the 92 CLC and Fund Conventions with the U.S. Oil Pollution Act of 1990; R. Force. 16. National Interests Influence in Compensation for Damages Resulting from Oil Pollution – the Experience of the US and its Reference to China; Li Tiansheng, Han Lixin. 17. Study on Ocean Pollution Damage Legislations between U.S.A. and China: From Comparative Views; Guo Ping. Part V: China. 18. China and International Protection of Marine Environment; Song Ying. 19. Study on the Application of CLC-92 in China; Chen Qi. 20. Compensation for the Domestic Oil Pollution in China’s Coast: Which Law Shall Apply? Zhang Liying. 21. Compulsory Liability Insurance and Carriage of Liquid and Dangerous Cargo by Coastal and Inland Waters in China; Chu Beiping, Zhang Jinlei. 22. The Factors Affecting Judicial Authentication on Maritime Oil Pollution and Relevant Solving Measures; Sun Guang. Part VI: Case Studies. 23. Legal Issues from the Hebei Spirit Oil Pollution Incident; J. Zhengliang Hu. 24. The MSC Ilona Oil Spill Incident at Pearl River Estuary; Li Zhonghua, Zhou Zhujun. 25. A Study of Compensation for Marine Oil Pollution Damage: Centering at the Compensation Claim of the Amorgos Oil Pollution Accident; A. Wang. Part VII: Comparative Conclusions. 26. Comparative and Concluding Remarks; M. Faure, Han Lixin and Shan Hongjun.