Regulating Vessel Based Pollution at International Law

Abstract

The world oceans that cover 75% of the earth’s surface and play a vital role in supporting the human population are today under serious threat from pollution. There is an urgency to protect the sea from pollution as the Nations of the earth carry out various activities such as fishing, shipping of goods, hydrocarbons and mineral extraction, naval missions, and scientific activities that have exposed the marine environment to pollution. Vessel-based pollution is caused by unsafe and unseaworthy or substandard vessels involved in ship operations or maritime transport. This paper examines the legal framework to effectively tackle vessel-based pollution culminating in the dwindling fortune of living resources of the sea. This paper seeks to bridge the gap in knowledge by advocating the protection, conservation, and preservation of the marine environment from oil spillage through the instrument of the law that will catalyze the creation of synergy among the nations of the world. The study concludes that the protection of the sea from pollution must be premised on the fact that natural resources of the sea are a common heritage of humankind for present and future generations.