Legal system of compensation for marine oil pollution in China

Abstract

Compensation for vessel-source oil pollution is a key issue in protecting the interests of both victims and the marine environment, as well as in the prevention of oil pollution. International standards on compensation for vessel-source oil pollution have been established by various relevant international conventions. This paper investigates how China is implementing such international standards for vessel-source oil pollution compensation and reveals the potential problems on the way of improving its compensation standards. It is found that China is making efforts to enhance its compensation capacity, and is moving closer to the international standards. However, such compensation will not be adequate if a major oil pollution incident occurs in the Chinese sea areas, and becoming a member of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund may give stronger protection for victims in China.