4 Major Oil and HNS Spills: Measures Taken by the IMO to Promote Global Ocean Governance

Abstract

This chapter evaluates the effectiveness of measures taken by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to promote global governance of the ocean. These views are based upon the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation’s (ITOPF) experience of having attended major oil and HNS incidents worldwide. The evaluation also takes into account the educational and outreach activities that the ITOPF has undertaken in conjunction with the IMO and several of the partners with whom the IMO works. The approach taken has been to consider, primarily, the measures in terms of the conventions that are in place governing Preparedness and Compensation and to highlight where measures appear to be working effectively as well as where there are obstacles. The ITOPF’s role does not extend to measures taken to prevent incidents occurring. Other conventions are mentioned briefly insofar as they have relevance to the work of the ITOPF.