Emergency port law

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The Nothafenrecht is part of customary international law that the right of the flag State one in distress due geratenen ship access to a foreign port or berth and certain restrictions on the legislative and executive power of the coastal State and other assistance.

Distress as a state of emergency

Distress at sea occurs if, from the point of view of the master, and exercising his due discretion, there is an insurmountable and compelling emergency with danger for the ship, cargo or people on it. The cause is irrelevant. Caused or by the crew indebted emergencies make factually a distress. This is a sub-category of legal principles of the state of emergency ( distress ) in mortal danger and the need ( necessity ) for other dangers if impaired to address them legal interests of third parties. A port of refuge (also port of refuge, English port of refuge ) is a ship berth for An in-distress ship . Such a place of refuge can also be an inner body of water, an upstream roadstead or another protected anchorage. That is why the EU and the international shipping organization IMO speak of places of refuge .

history

MSC Flaminia is being brought to Wilhelmshaven by tugs on September 9, 2012

Ports are sovereign territories of the respective coastal state and have therefore always been subject to entry and exit restrictions or bans.

Being able to call at ports in emergencies without asking for permission is a historical right that existed when the first sailing ships sailed in international waters. The ship can only be repaired and supplied in ports or near the coast and is not at the mercy of the forces of nature on the high seas. The emergency port law is based on a state of emergency (danger to life) or necessity (other dangers) in the event of distress, which enables the captain of the ship to call at a suitable port. Distress at sea is present if, from the point of view of the captain, there is an insurmountable and compelling emergency with a risk to the ship, cargo or people on it when exercising his due discretion. The exception limits the sovereign freedom of decision of the coastal or port state concerned to access foreign ships into its territorial waters and the legislative and executive power over foreign ships that are in distress.

From the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, there is no known case in which a ship in distress was refused entry into the port. In the event of an emergency, i.e. when no human life is endangered on the ship, there is a margin of discretion for the coastal state. Alternative aid measures such as lightening at sea but also defense measures because of the risk of environmental damage, spread of epidemics, radioactive contamination, etc. are at the discretion of the coastal state. In the event of an emergency sea emergency (endangerment of life on the ship), the coastal state can only counteract an equivalent danger, i.e. a danger to human life in the port state.

Around the turn of the millennium, there were several spectacular sea emergencies, in which access to the emergency port was denied in consideration of the risk to the coastal state. The wrecked ships were Pallas (1998 environmental damage in the Wadden Sea), Erika (1999 tanker accident in Brittany), Castor (2000 tanker accident off Spain), Tampa (2001 off Australia) and Prestige (2002 tanker accident off Spain) with partially devastating environmental damage.

In 2003 the International Maritime Organization (IMO) passed guidelines for the handling of ports of refuge (“Places of Refuge”) with ships in need of help. Dealing with ships in distress where human life is at risk is regulated in the SAR Convention . If a ship needs assistance but no lives are in danger, the IMO guidelines for ports of emergency apply. The directive pays special attention to the handling of environmentally hazardous emergencies such as leaky tankers, also a consequence of the cases Erika (1999), Castor (2000) and Prestige (2002). The European Union implemented the IMO Directive in European law in 2009 with the ERIKA III package.

After the wrecked MSC Flaminia and the MT Stolt Valor were not allowed to call at berths for weeks due to feared environmental damage in 2012 , the EU worked with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to develop new operational guidelines by 2016.

Germany

The emergency port law is recognized in German law. Since 2005 it has been legally stipulated that in the event of disputes regarding the allocation of a place of refuge, the head of the emergency team makes a decision that must be accepted and implemented by all parties involved. For this purpose, he has 40 places of refuge (anchorages and harbors) available for his decision.

Italy

The rescue operation of the Sea-Watch 3 , in which 53 people were rescued off the coast of Libya , attracted international attention in June and July 2019 . The port in Tripoli offered by the Libyan authorities, like other Libyan ports, was not considered by the activists due to the human rights situation there. It was decided to go to Lampedusa in Italy . Italy prohibited the Sea-Watch 3 from entering its territorial waters . The ship's captain, Carola Rackete, obeyed this ban for about two weeks, during which she was granted medical assistance, including medical evacuations, by the Italian government. Then she disregarded the prohibition by pointing out that there was an acute emergency on the ship and that the port of Lampedusa was the closest port of emergency. Thereupon a dispute arose over the extent to which Italy had to tolerate the maneuver of the Sea-Watch 3 . After Rackete was first arrested and placed under house arrest, an investigating judge ruled on July 3, 2019 that Rackete had acted in fulfillment of an obligation and should therefore be released.

Web links

literature

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  1. ^ Inken von Gadow-Stephani: Access to ports of refuge and other places of refuge for ships in distress. Springer 2006, ISBN 978-3-540-30518-7 , p. 209.
  2. ^ Inken von Gadow-Stephani: Access to ports of refuge and other places of refuge for ships in distress. P. 236.
  3. ^ Inken von Gadow-Stephani: Access to ports of refuge and other places of refuge for ships in distress. P. 329 f.
  4. ^ Inken von Gadow-Stephani: Access to ports of refuge and other places of refuge for ships in distress. P. 62.
  5. ^ Inken von Gadow-Stephani: Access to ports of refuge and other places of refuge for ships in distress. P. 236.
  6. ^ Inken von Gadow-Stephani: Access to ports of refuge and other places of refuge for ships in distress. P. 330.
  7. ^ Inken von Gadow-Stephani: Access to ports of refuge and other places of refuge for ships in distress. P. 270.
  8. ^ Inken von Gadow-Stephani: Access to ports of refuge and other places of refuge for ships in distress. P. 295.
  9. ^ Inken von Gadow-Stephani: Access to ports of refuge and other places of refuge for ships in distress. P. 297.
  10. ^ Inken von Gadow-Stephani: Access to ports of refuge and other places of refuge for ships in distress. P. 325.
  11. ↑ International Maritime Organization (Ed.): Guidelines on Places of Refuge for Ships in Need of Assistance , Resolution A.949 (23), adopted on December 5, 2003.
  12. ↑ Article 1.1, IMO Resolution A.949 (23)
  13. ^ Anthony Morrison (Ed.): Places of Refuge for Ships in Distress: Problems and Methods of Resolution . Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden 2002, ISBN 978-90-04-21889-5 , pp. 28-37.
  14. ↑ ERIKA III - The third EU maritime safety package . In: Gard News No. 196, November 2009 / January 2010 of November 1, 2009.
  15. ↑ Places of Refuge: An overview . Safety4Sea, June 21, 2018, accessed September 5, 2019.
  16. ^ Average command and port law in the context of accident management in distress at sea , Research Information System, October 21, 2005.
  17. ↑ LTO: Sea-Watch 3 : Sea rescue in closed harbors. Retrieved July 6, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Christian Albustin, Anna Steinhaus: Rescue operation in the Mediterranean: What about the allegations against the "Sea-Watch 3". Retrieved July 6, 2019 .
  19. ↑ FOCUS Online: Sea-Watch captain in a safe place - Salvini rages after the judgment. Retrieved July 6, 2019 .