Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The European Council introduced new regulations to support safe, clean and modern shipping in the EU.
To boost clean, safer, and shipping in the European Union, the European Council adopted four new pieces of legislation of the so-called ‘maritime safety’ legislative package. The package amended the relevant directives on the investigation of accidents in the maritime transport sector, ship-source pollution, compliance with flag state requirements, and port state control.
What are the key objectives of the new shipping laws?
According to the European Council, the following ‘package’ conducts a careful balance between, on the one hand, the need to ensure a high quality of shipping and, on the other, the need to protect the competitiveness of the European shipping sector, while also supporting reasonable costs for operators and member states’ authorities. Overall, it will prepare the EU with modern tools to keep clean shipping by aligning EU regulations with international standards while enhancing implementation and enforcement via an enhanced partnership framework between European and national authorities.
How does the directive improve fishing vessel safety?
As reported by the EU Council, the revised directive on the investigation of accidents in the maritime sector enhances the protection of fishing vessels, their crews, and the environment, with fishing ships less than 15 metres in length now included within the scope of the directive, meaning that accidents involving fatalities and loss of vessels will be investigated in a harmonised way. It also clarifies the purposes and the legal provisions so that member states’ accident investigation bodies analyse all accidents that need to be analysed in a timely and harmonised manner.
What penalties are imposed for ship-source pollution violations?
The modified directive on ship-source pollution incorporates international norms into EU law, ensuring that those responsible for illicit discharges of polluting substances are subject to dissuasive, practical, and proportionate fines to enhance maritime safety and better safeguard the marine environment from pollution by ships.
How do flag state rules ensure ship compliance with imo standards?
Moreover, the directive on compliance with flag state requirements controls the enforcement of rules applicable to flag states at the EU level. The responsibility for observing the compliance of ships with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) conventions fibs with the state where the ship is registered and whose nationality the ship holds: the flag state. It revises the current legislation and aligns it with international laws, mainly concerning the IMO instruments, implementation code (‘III code’) ensures satisfactory inspections of flagged ships and monitoring oversight of identified organisations working on behalf of the flag state
What role does port state control play in maritime safety?
After all, the revised directive on port state control updates EU legislation and aligns it with international practices and procedures as set out in the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and IMO conventions, guards fishing vessels, their crews, and the environment, including by presenting a voluntary inspections rule for larger fishing vessels (more than 24 metres in length).
