European law report - Maritime safety rules
Since the Erica oil tanker disaster off the coast of France, the EU has adopted various measures in order to increase maritime safety. The last of these measures was adopted on March 11, when the European Parliament approved a package of rules for...
Since the Erica oil tanker disaster off the coast of France, the EU has adopted various measures in order to increase maritime safety. The last of these measures was adopted on March 11, when the European Parliament approved a package of rules for maritime safety, in a bid to avoid accidents at sea, life-threatening or environmentally dangerous shipwrecks.
This new package is intended to ban ships that are deemed to be dangerous from anchoring or going to port in the EU. A system of monitoring in the form of port state control will be introduced, which will allow a more frequent and systematic inspection of vessels that pose a risk, which will make it possible for member states to definitively ban the worst of them from European ports.
The new rules require any ship flying the flag of an EU country to comply with international safety standards. This will be achieved by means of mandatory audit plan of national maritime administrations and the certification of their quality management systems.
The new rules also impose stricter insurance requirements on ship owners. In fact, all vessels calling at European ports will have to be insured. Such insurance must be at the maximum levels as set by the 1996 Convention of the International Maritime Organisation on the Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims. By virtue of these new EU measures, all vessels entering our ports must have mandatory insurance, independently of whether or not the flag state is party to this Convention.
If ship owners fail to take such insurance cover, they risk detention or expulsion upon calling at an EU port. P&I clubs, which are the most common form of ship insurances, have welcomed this regulation since it will greatly improve the P&I industry. However, concerns have arisen from various entities, particularly due to the fact that four out of five ships trading today do not have sufficient cover to meet the new requirements.
In addition, the new measures are also intended to standardise at EU level the accident liability of ships by providing better compensation for passengers in the event of accidents.
Until now, liability of the ship has been established differently in the member states. Liability rules for damage caused to passengers involved in maritime accidents and the thresholds of compensation payable to such passengers will now be harmonised. Victims will benefit from an adequate and equal protection from the higher levels of financial liability, since carriers will have to pay compensation of up to €2,587 for lost or damaged cabin luggage and up to €460,000 in the case of physical harm or death caused by fault or neglect. Advance payments will have to be made in the event of serious injury, permanent invalidity or death.
Ship owners will be responsible to provide proof of such insurance. Furthermore, appropriate information on the rights being conferred on passengers must be provided to those passengers prior to their journey or, where that is not possible, at the latest on departure. These measures will guarantee a level playing field at EU level for civil liability relating to damages caused to passengers and to their belongings, by ship.
These protective measures will be progressively extended to cover travel within one single country and to domestic ferry lines.
These measures clearly impose tougher duties for ship owners operating in the EU, but they will surely strengthen and improve maritime safety, not only in Europe but, due to the "extraterritorial" reach of such measures, also beyond it.
• Dr Grech is an associate with Guido de Marco & Associates and heads its European law division
This new package is intended to ban ships that are deemed to be dangerous from anchoring or going to port in the EU. A system of monitoring in the form of port state control will be introduced, which will allow a more frequent and systematic inspection of vessels that pose a risk, which will make it possible for member states to definitively ban the worst of them from European ports.
The new rules require any ship flying the flag of an EU country to comply with international safety standards. This will be achieved by means of mandatory audit plan of national maritime administrations and the certification of their quality management systems.
The new rules also impose stricter insurance requirements on ship owners. In fact, all vessels calling at European ports will have to be insured. Such insurance must be at the maximum levels as set by the 1996 Convention of the International Maritime Organisation on the Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims. By virtue of these new EU measures, all vessels entering our ports must have mandatory insurance, independently of whether or not the flag state is party to this Convention.
If ship owners fail to take such insurance cover, they risk detention or expulsion upon calling at an EU port. P&I clubs, which are the most common form of ship insurances, have welcomed this regulation since it will greatly improve the P&I industry. However, concerns have arisen from various entities, particularly due to the fact that four out of five ships trading today do not have sufficient cover to meet the new requirements.
In addition, the new measures are also intended to standardise at EU level the accident liability of ships by providing better compensation for passengers in the event of accidents.
Until now, liability of the ship has been established differently in the member states. Liability rules for damage caused to passengers involved in maritime accidents and the thresholds of compensation payable to such passengers will now be harmonised. Victims will benefit from an adequate and equal protection from the higher levels of financial liability, since carriers will have to pay compensation of up to €2,587 for lost or damaged cabin luggage and up to €460,000 in the case of physical harm or death caused by fault or neglect. Advance payments will have to be made in the event of serious injury, permanent invalidity or death.
Ship owners will be responsible to provide proof of such insurance. Furthermore, appropriate information on the rights being conferred on passengers must be provided to those passengers prior to their journey or, where that is not possible, at the latest on departure. These measures will guarantee a level playing field at EU level for civil liability relating to damages caused to passengers and to their belongings, by ship.
These protective measures will be progressively extended to cover travel within one single country and to domestic ferry lines.
These measures clearly impose tougher duties for ship owners operating in the EU, but they will surely strengthen and improve maritime safety, not only in Europe but, due to the "extraterritorial" reach of such measures, also beyond it.
• Dr Grech is an associate with Guido de Marco & Associates and heads its European law division