Search

The chapter considers potential legal gaps relating to the liability of private companies for pollution of the high seas arising from traditional shipping activities and the exploitation of the seabed, but also in the context of discussions about biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (bbnj). It examines possible compensation models for the high seas, such as the imo compensation systems (backed by liability insurance), voluntary industry schemes, administrative sanctions (e.g. through the isa) and the various types of environmental trust funds envisaged in the bbnj discussions (and tried, with varying degrees of success, in relation to Antarctica and climate change).

Marine oil and gas pollution spills in Australian waters have not been frequent in world terms and all of them have been fairly minor in quantity and effect. The first incident is addressed by Sarah Derrington concerning, in December, the APL Sydney dragging its anchor in Port Phillip Bay, near Melbourne, and breaking the gas pipeline on the bottom of the bay. The second incident, analyzed by Nick Gaskell, concerns the Pacific Adventurer, which lost containers overboard that punctured the hull resulting in the spill of oil some miles offshore from Moreton Island, near Brisbane, in March . The final incident, discussed by Vincent Cogliati-Bantz and Craig Forrest, occurred in April when the Shen Neng went aground off Gladstone port, in the Great Barrier Reef on the Australian east coast. In each case the authors set out the background and circumstances in relation to each of these oil spills. Keywords:Australian waters; gas pollution; Marine oil; oil spill; Phillip Bay