A Study On Tortious Liability Of Non-oil-spill Ships For Oil Pollution Damages From Collisions At Sea

China is a country of both vast maritime powers and keen demand ofoil import. For a long period, oil pollution damages from ships,especially ships in collisions at sea remain a significant reason thatcausing marine environmental pollution. At present, a full regime ofcompensation for oil pollution damages from ships hasn’t been establishedin China. Rules related to which can be found dispersedly in laws，judicialinterpretations and administrative regulations. This leads to confusionand controversies when applying relevant rules in trials of cases. Whatis worth noticing is，provisions on tortious liability of non-oil-spillships for oil pollution damages from collisions at sea are either vagueor vacant. In cases of pollution caused by one-ship oil spill fromcollisions at sea, whether non-oil-spill ships should be directly liablefor relevant damages remains a controversial issue among both scholarsand practitioners.Based on the legal relations in cases of pollution caused by oil spillfrom ship collisions, the theory of both causality and tortious liabilityforms are applied to this thesis, making a point that non-oil-spill shipsshould not be liable for oil pollution damages under any circumstances within the current regime, even from a results-driven perspective. Thisthesis analyzes the framework of existing legal provisions, straightensout chaos of liability cognizance for non-oil-spill ships in civiljudicial practices，evaluates various opinions from domestic studies, andsummarizes issues in current regime of compensation for oil pollutiondamages from ships at sea. Based on the status quo, this thesis offersviable suggestions on ways of perfecting the entire compensationmechanism of oil pollution damages from ships as the end: the law is notomnipotent in every infringement, as for oil pollution caused by shipcollisions at sea, the mechanism of damage risk diversification shall beintegrally improved during perfecting existing legal norms.There are four chapters in this dissertation. Starting with makinga general analysis on peculiarities of the liability for oil pollutiondamages from collisions at sea, the first chapter leads to the core topic.The second chapter gives a general introduction to the legal regime andjudicial practices accordingly made, meanwhile summarizes problems inthem. The third chapter analyzes the causation and legal basis ofliabilities for oil pollution damages in collisions at sea, clarifies thelogical construction, draws a conclusion and based on former discussions,tables proposals in the final chapter.To draw a conclusion reasonably and properly, points in this thesisare made from perspectives of both legislative revolution and nomologytheories, examined by judicial practices. Based on national conditionsof China, all the legal issues in this thesis are discussed in an objectiveway, with specific analyses of the predicament while balancing respectiveinterests of parties in shipping.