Legal Research Quarterly

Legal Research Quarterly

Challenges for the Application of Liability Limitation for Marine Pollution

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Fariborz Safari
Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Humanity Faculty, Hazrat-e Masoumeh University
10.48308/jlr.2023.231115.2466
Abstract
Marine accidents, such as the Sanchi oil tanker accident, cause many losses, including human, financial and environmental losses. Such accidents, on the one hand, raise technical issues and on the other, the issue of international responsibility of shipowners and the limitation of their responsibility. In this respect, several main challenges exist in terms of limitation of liability. Regardless of the origin of pollution, this article researches and examines the three main challenges of limiting liability. First, why should maritime liability be limited. This research, using an analytical method, examines the reports of the IMO Legal Committee, the reports of the IOPC funds 1992 and 2003, as well as the rules of P & I clubs. The second challenge is the issue of the uniform limiting of the shipowners responsibility for marine pollution, despite the existing different laws in the national laws for financial responsibility for damages. The third challenge is the issue of the coverage of marine pollution damage claims under Article 2 of the 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability, which has divided the claims under six titles. In this regard, the main question is whether the provisions of the article 2 of the Convention on Limitation of Liability, which is related to all types of maritime claims, cover all types of pollution damage, regardless of the form and type of pollution.
Keywords
Marine Accidents
Environmental Damages
Limitation of Liability
Marine Pollution
Maritime Claims
Subjects

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  • Receive Date 17 March 2023
  • Revise Date 13 June 2023
  • Accept Date 15 July 2023