International Legal Framework

REMPEC serves as a link between the regional level, through its contribution to the various themes dealt with within the context of the Barcelona Convention and its seven (7) Protocols, with the support of other Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP) Components; and the international level by assisting the Mediterranean coastal States in ratifying, transposing, implementing and enforcing international maritime conventions related to the prevention of, preparedness for and response to marine pollution from ships, in particular those adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO):

International Conventions addressing maritime safety and prevention of pollution from ships:

  • International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 (LL 1966);
  • Protocol of 1988 relating to the International Convention on Load Lines, 1966;
  • International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (SOLAS 1974);
  • International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as amended by the Protocols of 1978 and 1997 relating thereto (MARPOL) and its Annexes;
  • International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping for Seafarers, 1978 as amended in 1995 (STCW 1995);
  • Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREG 1972), as amended;
  • International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 (TONNAGE 1969);
  • International Convention on the Control of Harmful Antifouling Systems on Ships (AFS), 2001;
  • International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship’s Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM), 2004;
  • Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009;
  • Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter(LC), 1972 (and the 1996 London Protocol); and
  • International Labour Organization (ILO) Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 147), and the Protocol of 1996 relating thereto.

International Conventions addressing pollution preparedness and response:

  • International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation, 1990 (OPRC);
  • Protocol on Preparedness, Response and Co-operation to Pollution Incidents by Hazardous and Noxious Substances 2000 (OPRC-HNS Protocol);
  • International Convention relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties, 1969 (INTERVENTION 1969) and its Protocol relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Pollution by Substances other than Oil, 1973 (INTERVENTION PROTOCOL 1973);
  • International Convention on Salvage, 1989 (SALVAGE 1989); and
  • Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, 2007.

International Conventions addressing liability and compensation for pollution damage: