The Study On Bohai Sea Ship Pollution Prevention Legal System

Bohai Sea’s marine environment has seriously hampered the economicdevelopment of the Bohai Sea region,causing widespread concern in academia.Pollutant emissions from ships is an important cause of the deterioration of theenvironment of the Bohai Sea.For prevention of pollution from ships, China has promulgated a series of lawsand regulations, technical standards, joining to a series of international treaties oragreements to form a relatively complete legal system of ship pollutionprevention.For Bohai Sea Ship Pollution Prevention, Ministry of Transportationissued a " Bohai Sea ship Sewerage seal procedural requirements",establishing a "zeroemissions" system.But due to the implementation of the system objecting restrictionto the ships which stay more than a month in the Bohai Sea and the effectiveness oflegal documents basing on low level (departmental regulations), it is difficult for theprevention of Pollution from Ships fundamentally. Focusing on major pollutionincidents at sea, The Ship Maritime Bureau of three provinces and one city around theBohai Sea establishes the "Bohai Sea emergency response coordination mechanismfor Pollution from Ships", but that is only the mechanism which focus on theexecutive authorities and local maritime expertise and it is only the temporarycooperation mechanisms.With the limited scope and no coercive power, it is with littlesuccess.Bohai Sea has a specially natural environment feature, low environmentalcarrying capacity.But the existing legal regime of Pollution from Ships adoptsuniversal ship pollution emission standards, which is of Disadvantages. The existingprevention legal regime must be developed to meet the special requirements of theBohai Sea. It needs to fully consider the Bohai Sea lower environmental carrying capacity, with Scientific emission standards for ships,generally binding on Shipssailing in the Bohai Sea and Strong law enforcement force.The paper argues that legal system "special area" should be applied under "asamended by the1978Protocol,1973International Convention on the Prevention ofPollution from Ships"(hereinafter referred to as "Ships MARPOL") in the BohaiSea.The legal system"Special area" is designed for the prevention of pollution fromships, protection of the marine environment of special marine waters in the worldwhich has some special values,particularity in these waters reflecting the fragileecology environment,low environmental carrying capacity, and with importantecological and social values. Measures taken by the legal system is primarily throughthe development and implementation of more stringent emission standards than thenormal waters,aiming for prevention of Pollution from Ships and protection of themarine environment. The specific technical standards embody in the five-laws of the"Ships MARPOL".In this paper, through scientific analysis, Bohai Sea meets the eligibility criteriafor a "special area".So it can apply to become a "special area". But because of thecontroversial jurisdiction of the flag State and the coastal State, in order to coordinatethe contradiction between the two, port state jurisdiction should be strengthened,which has become the direction of developing the legal system.Basing on requirementof technical criteria in the "special area" under the " Ships MARPOL", it contributeto reduce pollution and protect the marine environment in Bohai Sea.The main content of the article is divided into four parts:The first part is an overview. The special natural environment of the Bohai Sea isan important reason for their low environmental carrying capacity, analyzing thefeature Bohai Sea Shipbuilding pollution.The second part Comments on the shortcomings of the Bohai Sea existingsystem of pollution from ships, comparing different legal meas of Prevention ofPollution from Ships,suggest Bohai Sea as the“special areas”.The third part is the study of the "special areas" legal system, with aretrospective of its international legal sources. The system is mainly through the “oil, noxious liquid substances, sewage, garbage and exhaust emission standards” from thefive Supplementary Conventions.To be a" special area” is with great significance.The fourth part is the focus of this paper, it recommends Bohai Sea as "specialareas". Proposing eligibility criteria to become a "special area",analyzes the feasibilityof the Bohai Sea to become a "special area".But the "special area" is based on the"Convention" in favor of protecting the interests of the flag State, not conducive to thecoastal marine environmental protection.Ports jurisdiction can coordinate thecontradiction between the two. Finally, put forward the suggestions of improving the"special area" legal regime.