Nick Gaskell

Decision making and the Legal Committee of the International Maritime Organization

This article considers the decision making process in the Legal Committee of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), one of the UN Special Agencies, and in diplomatic conferences convened to finalise the work of the Committee. It examines a number of legal instruments (such as the 1989 Salvage Convention, the HNS Convention 1996, the Arrest Convention 1999, Bunker Pollution Convention 2001 and the Athens Convention 2002) to see how proposals are introduced and drafted. In particular, it provides observations on the process of negotiation and the influences which states, NGOs and individuals can exert in order to achieve drafting progress. All international organisations have their own culture, which is not always evident to ``outsiders, and so the article tries to give a flavour of the IMO culture and the use that can be made of its travaux preparatoires.

Draft UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural I Heritage 1998

This article considers certain issues relating to the draft UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage 1998. It is not intended to provide a comprehensive analysis of the draft, which is still only a working document, but the aim is (1) to give a very general introduction to the draft Convention; (2) to consider the relationship between the draft Convention and the UN Law of the Sea Convention 1982; (3) to assess the impact that the draft Convention would have on ownership rights in wrecks; (4) to examine whether the draft Convention should exclude warships and other State vessels from its scope; and (5) to analyse the relationship between the draft Convention and the law of salvage.

The International Convention on Salvage 1989

THE STATES PARTIES TO THE PRESENT CONVENTION, RECOGNIZING the desirability of determining by agreement uniform international rules regarding salvage operations, NOTING that substantial developments, in particular the increased concern for the protection of the environment, have demonstrated the need to review the international rules presently contained in the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law relating to Assistance and Salvage at Sea, done at Brussels, 23 September 1910, CONSCIOUS of the major contribution which efficient and timely salvage operations can make to the safety of vessels and other property in danger and to the protection of the environment. CONVINCED of the need to ensure that adequate incentives are available to persons who undertake salvage operations in respect of vessels and other property in danger. HAVE AGREED as follows:

Marine oil and gas pollution spills in Australian waters

Marine oil and gas pollution spills in Australian waters have not been frequent in world terms and all of them have been fairly minor in quantity and effect. The first incident is addressed by Sarah Derrington concerning, in December, the APL Sydney dragging its anchor in Port Phillip Bay, near Melbourne, and breaking the gas pipeline on the bottom of the bay. The second incident, analyzed by Nick Gaskell, concerns the Pacific Adventurer, which lost containers overboard that punctured the hull resulting in the spill of oil some miles offshore from Moreton Island, near Brisbane, in March . The final incident, discussed by Vincent Cogliati-Bantz and Craig Forrest, occurred in April when the Shen Neng went aground off Gladstone port, in the Great Barrier Reef on the Australian east coast. In each case the authors set out the background and circumstances in relation to each of these oil spills. Keywords:Australian waters; gas pollution; Marine oil; oil spill; Phillip Bay