C. Framework Applicable to Oil Pollution 



1. Article 24 of tlie Convention on the High 

 Seas requires every State Party to: 



draw up regulations to prevent pollution of the 

 seas by the discharge of oil from ships or pipelines 

 or resulting from the exploitation and exploration 

 of the seabed and its subsoil, taking account of 

 existing treaty provisions on the subject. 



2. Article 5 (1) of the Convention on the 

 Continental Shelf provides: 



The exploration of the continental shelf and the 

 exploitation of its natural resources must not 

 result in any unjustifiable interference with naviga- 

 tion, fishing or the conservation of the living 

 resources of the sea, nor result in any interference 

 with fundamental oceanographic or other scien- 

 tific research carried out with the intention of 

 open publication. 



3. Article 5 (7) of the Convention on the 

 Continental Shelf obliges the coastal State to 

 undertake aU appropriate measures to protect 

 from harmful agents the Uving resources of the sea 

 in the safety zones it may establish around 

 installations and other devices it maintains to 

 explore the continental shelf and exploit its 

 natural resources. 



4. The International Convention for the Pre- 

 vention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil'^ is the 

 only existing international agreement dealing ex- 

 clusively with the prevention and control of 

 marine pollution. At present, 37 countries, includ- 

 ing the major maritime nations, are parties to the 

 Convention. 



The Convention was signed at London, May 12, 

 1954. It entered into force for the United States, Dec. 8, 

 1961, with an understanding, reservations and a recom- 

 mendation. 12 U.S.T. 2989, T.I.A.S. No. 4900. 



To implement the Convention, the Oil Pollution 

 Act of 1961 was passed. Pub. L. 87-167, 75 Stat. 402, 33 

 U.S.C. §1001-1015 (1961). 



The Convention was amended in 1962 by agree- 

 ment of the States Parties and the provisions of the 

 Convention set forth or described in the text are as 

 amended in 1962. The Oil Pollution Act of 1961 was 

 amended in 1966, Pub. L. 89-551, 80 Stat. 372, to bring 

 it into line with the 1962 Amendments to the 1954 

 Convention. 



a. Basic Requirements (1.) The Convention 

 imposes the following principal obligations upon 

 member States: 



(a.) Article III prohibits the discharge (i.e., any 

 discharge or escape howsoever caused) of oil 

 (including crude oU, fuel oil, heavy diesel oil and 

 lubricating oil) or oily mixture (a mixture with an 

 oil content of 100 parts or more in one million 

 parts of the mixture) from any ship, including a 

 tanker, to which the Convention applies, within 

 any of the prohibited zones referred to in Annex 

 A to the Convention. 



The prohibited zones generally are 50-mile 

 zones around the coasts of all countries. In 

 addition, the Convention also specifies a number 

 of prohibited zones of areas considerably in excess 

 of 50 miles. It also authorizes any State Party 

 under certain circumstances, including the absence 

 of objection from any other State Party, to extend 

 its prohibited zone to a- maximum of 100 miles 

 from the baselines from which the breadth of 

 its territorial sea is measured. 



(b.) It requires that the discharge of oil or oily 

 mixture from a ship to which the present Conven- 

 tion applies, other than a tanker, shall be made as 

 far as practicable from land. 



(c.) Article III prohibits the discharge of oil or 

 oily mixture anywhere at sea from a ship of 

 20,000 tons gross tonnage or more to which the 

 present Convention applies and for which the 

 building contract is placed on or after the date on 

 which this provision came into force (Dec. 8, 

 1961 , for the United States). 



(tf.) Article VIII requires each State Party to: 



take all appropriate steps to promote the provision 

 of facilities as follows: 



according to the needs of ships using them, 

 ports shall be provided with facilities adequate for 

 the reception, without causing undue delay to 

 ships, of such residues and oily mixtures as would 

 remain for disposal from ships other than tankers 

 if the bulk of the water had been separated from 

 the mixture; 



oil loading terminals shall be provided with 

 facilities, adequate for the reception of such 

 residues and oily mixtures as would similarly 

 remain for disposal by tankers; 



ship repair ports shall be provided with facili- 

 ties adequate for the reception of such residues 



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