EU eco laws risk criminal penalties for ship operators, crew

SHIPOWNERS and charterers face "increasingly demanding" environmental legislation from the European Union that risk criminal penalties for owners, operators, officers and crew, warns the UK's P&I Club.

"A recent directive set out the circumstances in which ship-source discharges of polluting substances constitute a criminal offence," said the maritime insurers group.

In November and December, three more directives are due to be implemented, it said in a statement. "Two are concerned with the provision of penalties by individual countries for specific shortcomings in respect of pollution and environmental protection; and a third with waste, including marine transportation and discharge at sea," said the P&I Club.

As a result the UK's P&I Club has published a summary of the main existing legislation and new developments in its Legal Briefing "An update on EU environmental legislation" (February 2010). It provides a comparison of liabilities and sanctions arising from four recent EU directives, encompassing their scope and implementation.

The four recent directives are: directive 2005/35 that had to be implemented by member states by March 2007. This states that ship-source discharges of polluting substances constitute a criminal offence if committed with intent, recklessly or serious negligence.

Directive 2009/123 obliges member states to provide for criminal penalties for discharging of polluting substances; directive 2008/99 also requires states to institute criminal penalties for serious infringements of EU laws on protecting the environment; and directive 2008/98 consolidates and updates EU law on all aspects of waste. It says ships may be considered "waste producers" and "waste holders" and indicates owners' and charterers' responsibilities in shipwrecks and spillages.
 

Source: www.schednet.com