Browsing by Subject "Sea"

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    Existing concepts in the law of the sea: possible bases for places of refuge?
    (2004) Roux, Pierre; Devine, Derry
    On 11 November 2002 the Bahamian registered tanker, the Prestige, laden with 77,000 tons of heavy oil en-route from Latvia to Singapore developed a 10 meter crack in the hull in heavy weather off Cape Finisterre. On the 13 th it sent out a distress signal that the hull had ruptured and oil was leaking. It was then 35 nm offshore and drifting shorewards. On the 14 th it was taken in tow by a salvage team, which succeeded in stabilising it. It requested permission to be towed into the calmer waters of a sheltered harbour to transfer its cargo to another tanker. France, the UK and nearby Spain and Portugal refused permission, fearing pollution and explosion in a confined harbour area. Under Spanish orders and shadowed by a naval frigate the Prestige was towed out to sea and then south towards Portuguese waters. Rough seas damaged it further and on the 15 th the master abandoned ship. Meanwhile, about 6,000 tons of oil escaped and were polluting the Spanish coast, fouling beaches and seabirds and closing fisheries and shellfish beds. It caused a political storm onshore and within the European Union. Portugal then dispatched a frigate to push the tugs westwards, further out to sea. On the 19 th the Prestige, buffeted by huge waves for a week, split apart and sank 145 nm off the Spanish coast near the Portuguese EEZ, causing the worst oil spill since the grounding of the Exxon Valdez in 1989. The oil spread was driven onshore polluting 290 km of Spanish coastline. If the tanker had been given shelter in a small bay the pollution could easily have been contained. It also threatened to pollute the coasts of France and Portugal. In the wake of the Prestige disaster, Spain and Portugal were blamed for exacerbating what should have been a minor oil spill by refusing to give the tanker permission to dock in a sheltered area.
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    Pilotage: sea the change
    (2007) January, Marlene Gillian; Bradfield, Graham
    The Shipping Industry has recently undergone a change in legislation, which is not unusual for such a constantly evolving industry. The National Ports Act 12 of 2005 ("the Act") was approved by the National Assembly on I March 2006 and it came into operation on 26 November 2006. Most of the provisions in Chapter 9 of the Act have been kept the same as the previous legislation' however section 76 of the Act effects a significant change from the previous manner in which liability for pilot error has been treated. Under the previous dispensation both the pilot and the port authority were exempt from liability for loss or damage caused by the pilot's negligence. The onus rested with the Port Authority who had to prove that the negligence were only due to error in order to rely on the exemption of liability clause. The National Port Authority has now repealed those provisions of the previous legislation and replaced it with section 76 of the Act. Under the provisions of s 76 the exemption is for the consequences of the pilot's acts or omissions in good faith'. Under the previous dispensation, courts have interpreted the meaning of the word 'negligent' and in the last leading case2 relating to such interpretation, it left the question hanging without any final conclusion, except for the fact that the word 'negligent' should be interpreted in the narrow sense. Under the provisions of section 76 the word • negligence' has been removed and replaced with the words' good faith'.