Research On The Compensation Liability For Pollution Damages In Offshore Drilling Contracting Operation

With the rapid development of science and technology,the pace of human explora-tion and development of oil has gradually stepped into the area of deep sea.In the pro-cess of offshore oil exploration,some disastrous accidents happened,causing great damages.This paper,focusing on pollution damages in offshore drilling contracting op-eration,discusses four main aspects of liability,i.e.,responsible parties,scope of lia-bility,limitation of liability and distribution of liability.The paper also proposes some suggestions for the improvement of the corresponding legislation in China,with a view to promoting the healthy development of the offshore oil drilling industry.The full text is divided into three parts:introduction,main body and conclusion.The main body consists of five chapters,which are as follows:Chapter 1 "Overview of Compensation Liability for Pollution Damages in Off-shore Drilling Contracting Operation".In this chapter,the author clarified the relevant concepts of offshore drilling contracting operation,probed the relationship of offshore drilling contracting contracts,and pointed out the main problems of liability for pollu-tion damages in offshore drilling contracting operation under the Chinese law.Chapter 2 "The Responsible Parties of Compensation Liability for Pollution Dam-ages in Offshore Drilling Contracting Operation".In this chapter,the author discussed the participants in offshore drilling contracting operation,reviewed the legal provisions and related cases concerning responsible parties in both China and the United States,and analyzed the qualification of the operators and contractors as the responsible parties.On this basis,the suggestion that both operators and contractors should be stipulated as the responsible parties are proposed to improve the Chinese legislation in this respect.Chapter 3 "Scope of Compensation Liability for Pollution Damages in Offshore Drilling Contracting Operation".In this chapter,the author analyzed the problem of de-termining the scope of liability for pollution damages under the Chinese law from four aspects:marine natural resources and ecological environment damages,property dam-ages,pure economic loss and cleaning costs.Afterwards,some suggestions for im-provement were put forward.Chapter 4 "Limitation of Compensation liability for Pollution Damages in Off-shore Drilling Contracting Operation".In this chapter,the author analyzed the legisla-tion worldwide concerning limitation of liability for damages as enjoyed by the operator and contractor,then discussed the necessity of the liability limitation system for off-shore drilling contracting operation.Finally,based on the characteristics of offshore drilling contracting operation and the relationship between responsible parties and dif-ferent hazards,the author submits the legislative proposals for the applicable liability limitation systems.Chapter 5 "Distribution of Compensation Liability for Pollution Damages in Off-shore Drilling Contracting Operation".In this chapter,the author introduced the content and significance of the clause allocating the responsibility in the standard contract,ana-lyzed its effect in the US judicial practice and discusses the rationale behind the judg-ment.On this basis,the author suggested that the effect of similar clauses should be recognized in China.