Page 35 - Insurance Times November 2019

distress was first discussed at IMO in the year 1980, when Secondly, it was also discussed whether the Coastal States
the legal committee was in the process of examining the are bound to accommodate the distress vessel under any
draft provisions of the International Convention on Salvage international law to avoid impending danger by undertaking
which was adopted in the year 1989 (The International repairing after lighterage or Ship to Ship transfer in case of
Convention on Salvage was adopted in London on 28th Oil tanker. International Law refers to the Right of States
April 1989 as treaty which replaced the Brussels convention to regulate entry of vessel in their ports as per UNCLOS
on assistance and salvage at sea). Initially it was suggested Article no 2 which reads as under:
that the States should provide shelter to the distress vessel
at their ports. Although few delegators accepted the Article 2
proposal but few of them expressed their doubt to impose Y The Sovereignty of a coastal state extends, beyond its
a "Public rule" in a "Private law" convention. Moreover, the land territory and internal waters and, in the case of
interest of the Coastal State should be considered while an archipelagic state, its archipelagic waters, to an
adopting such provisions. adjacent belt of sea described as the territorial sea.

The issue was further discussed when a working group of Y This sovereignty extends to the air space over the
IMO's MSC (The Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) - The territorial sea as well as to its bed and subsoil.
Maritime Safety Committee deals with maritime safety and Y The sovereignty over the territorial sea is exercised
maritime security which falls within the scope of IMO) was subject to this Convention and to other rules of
established in December 2000 to examine post Erika (Erika international law.
was a tanker vessel built in 1975 which sank off the coast
of France in 1999, causing a major environment disaster) The right to enter of a foreign ship into the port of coastal
safety related issue. state due to force majeure is not regulated by UNCLOS .but
it is an international practice to allow the vessel to take
The another issue on the Castor incident was surfaced shelter atleast for saving the human lives. However, the
when the particular tanker vessel was towed around the right of a coastal state to protect its coastline from marine
Mediterranean Sea after being damaged for over a month pollution is well accepted in the International Law.
as she could not find a proper place for successful lightering
operation. The matter was seriously discussed in IMO when If we examine Revised Chapter v of SOLAS (1st July 2002),
it was suggested for a global consideration to render proper it is found that the Owner, the Charterer, or the Company
assistance and facilities to the affected vessel, when she operating the vessel will not prevent the master of the ship
will be in distress condition at sea. from taking decision to seek shelter to avoid disaster
whereas SOLAS Article IV provides that the ships which are
The matter was further discussed by the MSC in May 2001 not subject to the convention at the commencement of
where it was stated that although the term "Port of Refuge" their voyage shall not be permitted to deviate from their
is commonly used in the shipping practice but such term intended voyage due to heavy weather or any other case
was never been appeared in any of the relevant convention of force majeure.
like UNCLOS (United Nation Conference on the Law of the
Sea), SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea), OPRC (International In such cases, the Government will ensure to make
convention on Oil pollution Preparedness, Response and arrangement for distress communication and coordination
Cooperation) Moreover, the term "Port" is very restrictive in their area of responsibility for the rescue of distress
to provide adequate facilities and services to the ship in persons .at sea round their coasts.
distress especially the Oil tanker. Hence, it was suggested
by the IMO secretary to other IMO committees to use the In view of the above, It is essential for IMO to develop a
wider term as "Places of Refuge"
suitable guideline for the ship in distress with the mutual
understanding between the Coastal State and the
Hurdles faced to adopt "Places of Government of the particular country to maintain proper
Refuge" and equitable balance between the rights and interests of
the Coastal State so that the distress ship may get her
When a vessel carrying liquid bulk cargo is damaged, the
coastal water of any state do not like to provide shelter to shelter to save the cargo, bunker and precious human lives.
the vessel in their coastal area to avoid environmental
pollution and destruction of marine lives. However, the Ref:
refusal may result heavy casualty to the human lives. Places of Refuge (SOLAS Convention) T

The Insurance Times, November 2019 35