Living with Ships in Distress - A New IMO Decision-Making Framework for the Requesting and Granting of Refuge

摘要

In November 2003 the IMO Assembly adopted Guidelines on Places of Refuge for Ships in Need of Assistance following a two-year deliberation period. The Guidelines were adopted in the wake of the highly publicized ERIKA, CASTOR and PRESTIGE incidents and at the same time as the European Union adopted a regional policy on places of refuge. This paper discusses the problem of places of refuge for ships in distress and analyses the IMO Guidelines adopted as a response to the problem. The paper concludes that the Guidelines constitute a practical modus vivendi for a non-resolvable problem. However, many legal questions remain unanswered and it is likely that the IMO will continue to be seized of the legal aspects of the problem into the future.