Research On Compulsory Liability Insurance Of Oil Pollution From Ships In China

Oil pollution liability insurance is a type of marine compulsory liability insurance applied to the field of oil pollution. Being compulsorily applicable to maritime transport according to law, marine compulsory liability insurance has been widely applied to the fields of oil pollution damage, maritime safety, maritime passenger transport and other fields in recent years, which effectively protects the victim interests. Reflected in "International Convention on Liability And Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous And Noxious Substances By Sea,1996", "International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker oil Pollution Damage,2001","Athen's Convention Relating to the Carriage of Passengers and Their Luggages by Sea,2002" and domestic law of some shipping countries around the world, Oil pollution liability insurance has become the new development trend .With the development of waterway transport, the improvement of marine technology and increased frequency of commercial intercourse among countries, the influence of maritime transport has enlarged. Under the influence of the complex environment of maritime transport, the giant ship, the growing amount of transport of petroleum and hazardous chemicals and other factors, risks of transport exist with the occurrence of various marine accidents. Without mentioning the high compensation for victims once marine accidents happen will the ship owners face huge economic losses and bankruptcy risks. Moreover oil leakage is often accompanied by the destruction to the local ecological environment and the great blow to the coastal aquaculture and tourism industry of coastal states. The inability of the ship owners to compensate makes the recovery and development of the economic environment of contaminated areas more difficult. Under the circumstances marine oil pollution liability insurance came into being and the establishment of it marked by "International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage,1969"as the representative of the relevant maritime conventions has achieved remarkable results.China's new "Prevention of Pollution by Vessels in Marine Environmental Management Regulations"entered into force on March 1,2010,accompanied by"The People's Republic of China Shipping Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage Insurance Implementing Measures"which also came into effect on October 1, 2010. The regulations above are milestones to construct oil pollution liability insurance. Therefore under such background it is necessary to sort out the relative problems and submit corresponding suggestions to china's legal construction of compulsory liability insurance system for vessels.The first chapter describes the basic theory of shipping oil pollution compulsory liability insurance; the second chapter analyzes the application of the law on compensation for shipping oil pollution damage in China and points out different application of conventions or national laws according to various conditions.Consequently,different compulsory insurance provisions is used accordingly;the third chapter discusses the current legislative situation of our country on oil compulsory liability insurance and fund, giving prominence to the new regulations about the compulsory insurance system in "Insurance Law" and "Prevention of Pollution by Vessels in Marine Environmental Management Regulations" as well as the legislative and practical influence of shipping oil pollution damage compensation in china; on this basis, the fourth chapter gives some proposal on how to improve the shipping oil pollution compulsory liability insurance system.