Go back to document
details.
Go
back to top.
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION RELATING TO INTERVENTION ON THE
HIGH SEAS IN CASES OF OIL POLLUTION CASUALTIES Disclaimer
(Brussels, 29 November 1969)
The States Parties to the present Convention,
Conscious of the need to protect the
interests of their peoples against the grave consequences of a maritime casualty
resulting in danger of oil pollution of sea and coastlines,
Convinced that under these circumstances
measures of an exceptional character to protect such interests might be
necessary on the high seas and that these measures do not affect the principle
of freedom of the high seas,
Have
agreed as follows:
Article I
1. Parties to the present
Convention may take such measures on the high seas as may be necessary to
prevent, mitigate or eliminate grave and imminent danger to their coastline or
related interests from pollution or threat of pollution of the sea by oil,
following upon a maritime casualty or acts related to such a casualty, which may
reasonably be expected to result in major harmful consequences.
2. However, no measures shall be taken
under the present Convention against any warship or other ship owned or operated
by a State and used, for the time being, only on government non-commercial
service.
Article II
For the purpose of the present
Convention:
1. "maritime casualty"
means a collision of ships, stranding or other incident of navigation, or other
occurrence on board a ship or external to it resulting in material damage or
imminent threat of material damage to a ship or cargo;
2. "ship" means: (a) any sea-going vessel of any type
whatsoever, and (b) any floating craft, with the exception of an installation or
device engaged in the exploration and exploitation of the resources of the
sea-bed and the ocean floor and the subsoil thereof;
3. "oil" means crude oil, fuel oil, diesel oil and
lubricating oil;
4. "related
interests" means the interests of a coastal State directly affected or
threatened by the maritime casualty, such as:
(a) maritime coastal, port or estuarine activities, including
fisheries activities, constituting an essential means of livelihood of the
persons concerned;
(b) tourist
attractions of the area concerned;
(c) the health of the coastal population and the well-being of the area
concerned, including conservation of living marine resources and of wildlife;
5. "Organization" means the
Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization.
Article III
When a coastal State is exercising the right to take measures in accordance with
Article 1, the following provisions shall apply:
(a) before taking any measures, a coastal State shall proceed to
consultations with other States affected by the maritime casualty, particularly
with the flag State or States;
(b)
the coastal State shall notify without delay the proposed measures to any
persons physical or corporate known to the coastal State, or made known to it
during the consultations, to have interests which can reasonably be expected to
be affected by those measures. The coastal State shall take into account any
views they may submit;
(c) before
any measure is taken, the coastal State may proceed to a consultation with
independent experts, whose names shall be chosen from a list maintained by the
Organization;
(d) in cases of
extreme urgency requiring measures to be taken immediately, the coastal State
may take measures rendered necessary by the urgency of the situation, without
prior notification or consultation or without continuing consultations already
begun;
(e) a coastal State shall,
before taking such measures and during their course, use its best endeavours to
avoid any risk to human life, and to afford persons in distress any assistance
of which they may stand in need, and in appropriate cases to facilitate the
repatriation of ships crews, and to raise no obstacle thereto;
(f) measures which have been taken in
application of Article I shall be notified without delay to the States and to
the known physical or corporate persons concerned, as well as to the
Secretary-General of the Organization.
Article IV
1.
Under the supervision of the Organization, there shall be set up and maintained
the list of experts contemplated by Article III of the present Convention, and
the Organization shall make necessary and appropriate regulations in connexion
therewith, including the determination of the required qualifications.
2. Nominations to the list may be made by
Member States of the Organization and by Parties to this Convention. The experts
shall be paid on the basis of services rendered by the States utilizing those
services.
Article V
1. Measures taken by the coastal State in
accordance with Article I shall be proportionate to the damage actual or
threatened to it.
2. Such measures
shall not go beyond what is reasonably necessary to achieve the end mentioned in
Article I and shall cease as soon as that end has been achieved; they shall not
unnecessarily interfere with the rights and interests of the flag State, third
States and of any persons, physical or corporate, concerned.
3. In considering whether the measures
are proportionate to the damage, account shall be taken of:
a) the extent and probability of imminent
damage if those measures are not taken; and (b) the likelihood of those measures
being effective; and (c) the extent of the damage which may be caused by such
measures.
Article VI
Any Party which has taken measures in
contravention of the provisions of the present Convention causing damage to
others, shall be obliged to pay compensation to the extent of the damage caused
by measures which exceed those reasonably necessary to achieve the end mentioned
in Article 1.
Article VII
Except as specifically provided, nothing
in the present Convention shall prejudice any otherwise applicable right, duty,
privilege or immunity or deprive any of the Parties or any interested physical
or corporate person of any remedy otherwise applicable.
Article VIII
1. Any controversy between the Parties as to whether measures
taken under Article I were in contravention of the provisions of the present
Convention, to whether compensation is obliged to be paid under Article VI, and
to the amount of such compensation shall, if settlement by negotiation between
the Parties involved or between the Party which took the measures and the
physical or corporate claimants has not been possible, and if the Parties do not
otherwise agree, be submitted upon request of any of the Parties concerned to
conciliation, or if conciliation does not succeed, to arbitration, as set out in
the Annex to the present Convention.
2. The Party which took the measures shall not be entitled to
refuse a request for conciliation or arbitration under provisions of the
preceding paragraph solely on the grounds that any remedies under municipal law
in its own courts have not been exhausted.
Article IX
1. The
present Convention shall remain open for signature until 31 December 1970 and
shall thereafter remain open for accession.
2. States Members of the United Nations or any of the
Specialized Agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency or Parties to
the Statute of the International Court of justice may become Parties to this
Convention by:
(a) signature
without reservation as to ratification, acceptance or approval;
(b) signature subject to ratification,
acceptance or approval followed by ratification, acceptance or approval; or
(c) accession.
Article X
1. Ratification,
acceptance, approval or accession shall be effected by the deposit of a formal
instrument to that effect with the Secretary-General of the Organization.
2. Any instrument of ratification,
acceptance, approval or accession deposited after the entry into force of an
amendment to the present Convention with respect to all existing Parties or
after the completion of all measures required for the entry into force of the
amendment with respect to those Parties shall be deemed to apply to the
Convention as modified by the amendment.
Article XI
1.
The present Convention shall enter into force on the ninetieth day following the
date on which Governments of fifteen States have either signed it without
reservation as to ratification, acceptance or approval or have deposited
instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the
Secretary-General of the Organization.
2. For each State which subsequently ratifies, accepts,
approves or accedes to it the present Convention shall come into force on the
ninetieth day after deposit by such State of the appropriate instrument.
Article XII
1. The present Convention may be denounced by any Party
at any time after the date on which the Convention comes into force for that
State.
2. Denunciation shall be
effected by the deposit of an instrument with the Secretary-General of the
Organization.
3. A denunciation
shall take effect one year, or such longer period as may be specified in the
instrument of denunciation, after its deposit with the Secretary-General of the
Organization.
Article XIII
1. The United Nations where it
is the administering authority for a territory, or any State Party to the
present Convention responsible for the international relations of a territory,
shall as soon as possible consult with the appropriate authorities of such
territories or take such other measures as may be appropriate, in order to
extend the present Convention to that territory and may at any time by
notification in writing to the Secretary- General of the Organization declare
that the present Convention shall extend to such territory.
2. The present Convention shall, from
the date of receipt of the notification or from such other date as may specified
in the notification, extend the territory named therein.
3. The United Nations, or any Party which has made a
declaration under paragraph 1 of this Article may at any time after the date on
which the Convention has been so extended to any territory declare by
notification in writing to the Secretary- General of the Organization that the
present Convention shall cease to extend to any such territory named in the
notification.
4. The present
Convention shall cease to extend to any territory mentioned in such notification
one year, or such longer period as may be specified therein, after the date of
receipt of the notification by the Secretary-General of the Organization.
Article XIV
1. A Conference for the purpose of revising or amending
the present Convention may be convened by the Organization.
2. The Organization shall convene a
Conference of the States Parties to the present Convention for revising or
amending the present Convention at the request of not less than one-third of the
Parties.
Article XV
1. The present Convention shall be
deposited with the Secretary-General of the Organization.
2. The Secretary-General of the
Organization shall:
(a) inform
all States which have signed or acceded to the Convention of: (i) each new
signature or deposit of instrument together with the date thereof: (ii) the
deposit of any instrument of denunciation of this Convention together with the
date of the deposit; (iii) the extension of the present Convention to any
territory under paragraph 1 of Article XIII and of the termination of any such
extension under the provisions of paragraph 4 of that Article stating in each
case the date on which the present Convention has been or will cease to be so
extended;
(b) transmit certified
true copies of the present Convention to all Signatory States and to all States
which accede to the present Convention.
Article XVI
As
soon as the present Convention comes into force, the text shall be transmitted
by the Secretary-General of the Organization to the Secretariat of the United
Nations for registration and publication in accordance with Article 102 of the
Charter of the United Nations.
Article XVII
The present
Convention is established in a single copy in the English and French languages,
both texts being equally authentic. Official translations in the Russian and
Spanish languages shall be prepared and deposited with the signed original.
In witness whereof the undersigned being duly authorized by
their respective Governments for that purpose have signed the present
Convention.
Done at Brussels
this twenty-ninth day of November 1969.
Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies, 1994-1996
This material is provided to you "as is" and thus we
make no warranties of any kind, either express or implied about the accuracy of
the text and other information. You should not assume that information we
provided here is error-free or that it will be suitable for the particular
purpose that you have in mind when using it.