SIMIC

MEMBER states of the UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) will debate a proposal to secure ship-to-ship transfers at the next meeting of the United Nations body's legal committee this spring, reports Singapore's Splash 247.
In the wake of Russian sanctions, the volume of ship-to-ship transfers has increased with Russia taking cargoes from its coast on smaller tankers and moving them onto larger ships before heading to India and China.
Australia, Canada and the US have sent the IMO a joint submission raising concerns about the global liability and compensation regime relating to the increase in ship-to-ship transfers at sea.
The submission argues that these transfers undermine the rules-based international order, increase the risk of pollution to nearby coastal states, and threaten the shared liability and compensation regime set out in the 1992 Civil Liability Convention, the 1992 Fund Convention, and its supplementary fund protocol.
"These risky practices unjustly expose national and local governments and authorities to potentially fill the void of paying for response and clean-up costs and compensating victims where no international or domestic compensation fund can do so," said the submission.
Australia, Canada and the US are calling on flag states to ensure that tankers under their flag adhere to measures that lawfully prohibit or regulate ship-to-ship transfers.
Lastly, the submission suggests that if port states become aware of any ships going dark, they should subject such vessels to enhanced inspections as authorised.