Norway signs up to pollution fund
Norway signs up to pollution fund
NORWAY has become one of the first states to ratify the 2003 Protocol to the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage 1992, reports Wikborg Rein. The 2003 protocol establishes a supplementary fund for international oil pollution compensation and offers an additional tier for pollution damage in states which are signatories to the 1992 fund.
The protocol was developed in response to oil pollution incidents such as those following the Erika and Prestige casualties. The protocol will enter into force three months after it has been ratified by at least eight states which have received a combined total of 450 million tons of contributing oil in a calendar year.
(International Law Office)
Australia awaits new security bill
NEW legislation to improve the security of Australia’s borders has been passed by both houses of parliament and is now waiting royal assent, according to law firm Ebsworth & Ebsworth. The new law, the Customs Legislation Amendment (Airport, Port & Cargo Security) Bill 2004, amends a number of provisions of the Customs Act 1901 relating to the detention and searching of individuals, reports on departing passengers and crew, and import reporting.
Under the new law, customs officers will be able to detain individuals whom they suspect of committing, or being in the process of committing, a serious offence. Customs will also be allowed to conduct a frisk search to determine whether the person has a concealed weapon.
The bill will also require ships to provide certain information about passengers or crew leaving Australia 48 hours prior to departure. And it will impose new import reporting deadlines, with ships being required to provide reports further in advance than the current 24 and 48 hours. A period of 96 hours has been mentioned but not yet confirmed.
Turkey relaxes trade law
IN an attempt to attract foreign investment, Turkish trade law has been amended to allow shipping companies which own Turkish-flagged vessels to be traded on the stock exchange, provided the majority of shares are held by Turkish citizens. According to Aybay & Aybay, other changes encourage foreign investment by relaxing and simplifying mortgage and foreclosure processes.
(International Law Office)
Dutch regime to boost fleet figures
FOLLOWING recent changes to the Dutch tonnage tax regime, ship operators will be able to operate their fleets with much greater flexibility. According to Haco van der Houven van Oordt of Rotterdam-based law firm AKD Prinsen Van Wijmen, the regime has been amended to enable operators to temporarily increase the size of their fleets – a move that should help attract more vessels to the Dutch registry.
The changes have been in the pipeline for some time but, as van Oordt points out, the authorities took their time amending the regulations to ensure that the new regime did not contravene European Union competition regulations.
Under the old system, vessels chartered or managed by an operator using the scheme could only amount to three times the vessels they owned or partly owned in any one year. Under the new system, operators who exceed this 3:1 ratio will no longer be automatically rejected from the scheme if they equalise in year two.
Recent years have seen a slight fall in the number of vessels on the Dutch registry as other European countries have improved their systems to compete with The Netherlands. It is hoped that these latest changes will help reverse this trend.