On The Establishment Of Oil Spill Emergency Response Cooperative Mechanism For The Strait Of Malacca

Article43of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seaplaces an obligation on user States to cooperate with States borderingstates used for international navigation with regard to navigationalsafety and vessel-source pollution. For practicing the provision, thelittoral States of the Strait of Malacca established a cooperativemechanism for the Strait of Malacca in2007. It is established to combinethe user States to protect navigational safety and marine environmenttogether. However, the cooperative mechanism is inadequate. There arevery few measures related to prevent vessel-source pollution, not mentionto set up cooperative projects related to oil spill incidents which arecommon and frequently occurred vessel-source pollution incidents. Facewith the increased risk of oil spill in the Strait of Malacca, thecooperative mechanism established in2007can not work well in dealingwith this kind of incidents. It needs an emergency response cooperativemechanism related to oil spill incidents to make up for its defects.With the increase of oil demand in the world, the number and thetonnage of oil tankers passing through the Strait of Malacca is growingand the risk of oil spill is increasing also. The littoral States can noteliminate the bad effect made by oil spill alone. They urgently need thehelp of user States to deal with the vessel-source oil pollution. Inaddition, the Strait of Malacca is the maritime lifeline in energytransportation of China. To protect it from the damage caused byvessel-source oil pollution directly concerns the navigational interestsof our tankers and the marine environment of the South China Sea. Therefore,both from the view of the world and China, the establishment of oil spill emergency response cooperative mechanism for the Strait of Malacca isnecessary.The establishment of oil spill emergency response cooperativemechanism for the Strait of Malacca not only is consistent with the letterand spirit of Article43of the United Nations Convention on the Law ofthe Sea and has the feasibility in international law, but also conformsto the interests of littoral States and user States. The littoral Statessupport the user States to participate in the environmental protectioncooperation by offering funds and technology. The user States are willingto take part in the cooperative mechanism in view of their navigationalbenefits and environmental interests. The attitude of both sides providesfeasibility support for the establishment of oil spill emergency responsecooperative mechanism for the Strait of Malacca.From the signing of cooperative agreement to the settlement ofdisputes, there are a series of systems to support the oil spill emergencyresponse cooperative mechanism for the Strait of Malacca. It includes theregular conference system, the leading agency management system, stablefinancial system, technical cooperation system, the dispute settlementand accountability system. These systems are interconnected andcomplementary. They form the framework of the cooperative mechanism. Inaddition, as the important user States of the Strait of Malacca, Chinawill make positive contribution on the establishment of related systemsand to push the cooperative mechanism forward.The oil spill emergency response cooperative mechanism for the Straitof Malacca is another attempt to implement the Article43of the UnitedNations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Its establishment makes up fordetects of the2007cooperative mechanism in oil spill emergency responseand benefits the better implementation of the Article43. It also putforward improvement suggestions for the Article43in the method of cooperation, the scope of cooperation, the nature of cooperativeobligation and the role of international maritime organization in thecooperative mechanism.