ABSTRACT
Up to the early 1970s marine pollution from ships was in essence unregulated. In the name of business efficiency ships regularly cleaned their tanks en route and discharged their residues at sea together with all rubbish overboard. This attitude was not assisted by the fact that the jurisdiction of coastal states extended only to territorial waters of, in general, three nautical miles from the coast. Pollution damage recovery for contaminated property was based on national law, in England, in tort and was not always easy to achieve.1 Today there is an extensive legislative framework attempting to prevent or mitigate pollution2 at sea and reduce the degradation of the marine environment. It was the image of big tankers3 leaking large quantities of oil, polluting extensive areas and destroying wildlife that raised public awareness about the threats to the environment posed by large scale transportation of oil by sea. Triggered by these high profile incidents the law started developing into a very distinct and separate field involving regulatory obligations coupled with penal and civil liability.4 The shipping industry played a leading role in the development of the new law, and in several instances
1. Esso Petroleum Co Ltd v Southport Corp [1956] AC 218; [1955] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 655. 2. It should not be assumed that shipping is the major source of oceanic pollution. Land-based activities
are far more damaging not only in terms of volume of pollutants but also because most of the oceanic life is concentrated in the coastal zone. However as these are within the jurisdiction and the politics of each coastal State only “soft” international law under regional international instruments has been developed.
