On The Evolution Of The System Of The International Oil Pollution From Ships And Build China Oil Spill Legal System

As China becomes one of the top oil importers in the world, ship-source oil pollution shapes as an exacerbating environmental problem. Short of an oil pollution act, only sporadic legislative provisions are available in administrative and civil acts. Even the Maritime Act, which regulates "relations arising from maritime transportation and ships", is silent on this issue. What mechanism shall China build in terms of ship-source oil pollution? What are key issues? How can those systems designed in international conventions and domestic laws of other countries be implanted into Chinese legislation? Meanwhile, oil spillage from ships results in astronomical compensation not infrequently. What does such compensation generally cover? They are questions the author is trying to answer in this dissertation.The evolution of international oil compensation scheme, represented by conventions and their protocols as well as 1990 Oil Pollution Act of the US, is reviewed in retrospect. Tragic oil spillages underlie such process of evolution and it is undeniably necessary for the international community to establish this two-tiered mechanism, co-borne by shipping and oil industry.The retrospective review is intended to provide annotation for Chinese legislation of oil pollution. China has accessed to CLC and FUND conventions while the latter one only applies to Hongkong. Even for the former one, one can not take for granted that it applies to all oil spillages in China. It is generally accepted that the Conventions will apply only to those relations involving foreign elements. Moreover, the reality of tonnage structure of tankers plying domestic ports and inner waterways makes it impossible for application of the Conventions. Issues discussed in this paper are: how to set up a fund to safeguard interests of victims of oil accidents in China? Which approach shall China takes in forging the compensation mechanism for oil pollution from ships plying domestic ports and inner waterways? The author prescribes his ideas in the following aspects:responsible party, compulsory insurance and direct action, limitation of liability and oil pollution compensation fund.In the third part, the author is intent on breaking down the huge compensation following oil spillage from ships and trying to present a picture of what losses are payable by comparing provisions of the Conventions, claim-handling practices of IOPC Fund and practices in the US. Discussion is made on preventive measures, property loss, economic loss and damage to natural resources, which is hoped to shed light on this riddle that people involving in this field will usually encounter.