ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with various issues of potential importance to managers, operators and other parties associated with the owner of a ship involved in a pollution incident.
These issues may arise in a variety of ways, reflecting the variety of group structures, management and operational arrangements which exist in commercial practice. Considerable differences exist in the extent to which the commercial operations of a ship, and its technical maintenance, are carried out by parties other than the registered shipowner. In some cases independent ship managers are engaged under arm’s-length management agreements, whilst in other instances a close corporate relationship may exist between the management or operational entity and the registered owner. In some cases this may signify that the manager or operator is the party with whom beneficial ownership or real control actually lies.
