Local Authorities And Pollution From Ships

Local authorities often face considerable expense when the coastline is polluted by oil and other noxious substances as a result of maritime accidents. They are in charge of coordinating the response plan, which may involve mobilizing the police and firefighting services, evacuating the local population, cleaning up the beaches and disposing of pollutants and polluted matter.

If the pollutant is oil from a tanker then obtaining compensation should be a relatively straightforward exercise. The ship owner will be liable regardless of whether or not he was at fault. The level of compensation is capped at US$87 million but will soon be revised upwards to US$190 million (see box).

However if the pollutant is a non-persistent oil, or other hazardous or noxious substance there are no international conventions in force to provide for liability and the local authority has to fall back on national law.