The liability emerging from the Maritime Safety Law and the importance of the I.S.M. Code – the MSC Patricia oil spill court case in Sines (Portugal)

Duarte Lynce de FARIA

doi:10.34625/issn.2183-2705(35)2024.ic-25

Authors

Duarte Lynce de FARIA Escola Superior Náutica Infante D. Henrique e Faculdade de Direito da Universidade Nova de Lisboa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9569-4281

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34625/issn.2183-2705(35)2024.ic-25

Keywords:

Maritime safety, Liability, Pollution, Hague Rules, Nautical fault, Negligence, Willfull misconduct

Abstract

The deepening and development of the rules on maritime safety have the effect of gradually doing away with clauses exempting or limiting liability, as regards, in general, the international system of liability for damage caused by spills in the marine environment and the application of the compensation funds. The compliance with maritime safety standards, while minimising "risks" (and errors), also makes the fight against "threats" more robust and, at the same time, limits the application of clauses on exoneration and limitation of liability, which are present, for example, and among other instruments, in the conventions on pollution resulting from oil spills and those relating to the maritime transport of goods. The added value of standardising the I.S.M. Code and using it as a reference to qualify the conduct in question also has consequences for insurers and criminal liability, in which the trials of most of the most severe spills fall, as was the recent case of the N/M "Patrícia" in Sines in October 2016. With the new techniques and modern types of equipment on board the vessels, the increasingly demanding nature of ship management requires a new approach to exoneration clauses (of civil liability and its limits), considering their complete appliance with the leading international references and quality assessment.

References

Anderson, P., "I.S.M. Code - a Practical Guide to the Legal and Insurance Implications", Lloyd's Practical Shipping Guides, Informa Law from Routledge, 3rd Ed., 2015 in https://www.routledge.com/rsc/downloads/9781843118855_ ISM_Code.pdf.

Calamari, Joseph A., "The Eternal Conflict Between Cargo and Hull: The Fire Statute – A Shifting Scene", St. John's Law Review, Vol. 55, No. 3, Article 1, pages 417 to 449, St. John's, Canada, 1981.

Christodoulou-Varotsi, Iliana, and Pentsov, Dimitry A., "Maritime Work Law Fundamentals: Responsible Shipowners Seafarers", Springer Ed., Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2008.

Coelho, Carlos O., "Poluição Marítima por Hidrocarbonetos e Responsabilidade Civil", Almedina, Coimbra, 2007.

Faria, Duarte Lynce de, "The (New) Law of Maritime Safety - the Ship, States, Conventions and their Autonomy", 2nd edition, Almedina, Coimbra, Portugal, October 2023, ISBN 978-989-40-1295-5.

Faria, Duarte Lynce de, "O Contrato de Volume e o Transporte Marítimo de Mercadorias – Dos granéis aos contentores, do "tramping" às linhas regulares", Thesis Collection, Almedina, Coimbra, 2018, ISBN 978-972-40-7675-1.

Fogarty, Aengus R. M., "Merchant Shipping Legislation", 3rd Edition, Informa Law from Routledge, Oxon (U.K.), New York (U.S.), 2017.

I.M.O., (1993). - Resolution A.741 (18) adopted on Nov. 4 1993 - International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and Pollution Prevention (International et al. (I.S.M.) Code) in http:// www.imo.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/Assembly/ Documents/A.741(18).pdf

I.M.O., (2000). - Resolution MSC.104(73) adopted on Dec. 5 2000 - Adoption of Amendments to the International Safety Management (I.S.M.) Code in http://www.imo.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/ Maritime-Safety-Committee-(M.S.C.)/Documents/MSC.104(73).pdf;

I.M.O., 2015 edition - International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and Pollution Prevention (International et al. (I.S.M.) Code) in https://safety4sea.com/wp-content/uploads/ISM-Code/ISM%20 Code%202015.

Incident and case of Goldman v Thai Airways International Ltd in Air: (1983) 1 WLR 1186, 1199-1202 (C.A.).

Incident and Case MSC Patricia in Case No. 3769/16.7T9STB of the Setúbal Judicial Court, Setúbal Central Criminal Division, Judge 2, Portugal.

Incident MAERSK Charlotte Maersk, Fire, Jul. 7 2010 in main. dk/media/9153/charlotte-maersk-fire-on-7-july-2010. pdf.

Incident and Court Case, M.S.C. Flaminia, 12-cv-8892 (K.B.F.) (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 17, 2017) in https://www.shippingandfreightresource.com/shipper-and-container-operator-liable-for-explosion-on-msc-flaminia/ and https://www.burgoynes.com/ articles/2019/02/msc-flaminia-a-brief-account-of-an-investigation.

Incident and Court Case Glencore Energy U.K. Ltd & Anr v Freeport Holdings Ltd (The 'Lady M') [2019] "English Court of Appeal", E.W.C.A. Civ 38 in https:// www.wfw.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/wfw-briefing-fire-on-board. Pdf.

Katsivela, Marel, "Loss of the Carrier's Limitation of Liability Under the Hague-Visby Rules and the Warsaw Convention: Common Law and Civil Law Views" in (2012) 26 A&NZ Mar L.J., pps. 118 to 135, in http://classic.austlii. edu.au/au/journals/ANZMarLawJl/2012/7.pdf.

López de Gonzalo, Marco, "Le Navi Autonome e le Hague-Visby Rules" in "Temas de Direito dos Transportes, volume V", Coord. M. Januário da Costa Gomes, Almedina, Coimbra, 2020, pages 609 to 619.

Mandaraka-Sheppard, Aleka's Book "Modern Admiralty Law - With Risk Management", Cavendish Publishing Limited, London and New York, 2001.

Martinez, J, 'Understanding Mens Rea in Command Responsibility', (2007) 5 JINTCRJ 638, 644 and Government of Canada, Translation Bureau, Law of Contracts and Law of Torts Glossary (Common Law).

Wu, Chao and others, "International Conventions on Liability and Compensation for Tanker Spills - Some current issues to resolve" in www.ukpandi.com/ U.K. Pi/legal/clcfc2002.