Abstract
Where shipping services are concerned the Pacific Island states face significant geographical hurdles. Some island states are spread across the vastness of the Pacific Ocean; for example, a sea voyage between two islands in the Kiribati group can take several days. Some, like Tonga, are made up of dozens of inhabited islands. All are isolated in relation to the rest of the world and, in many cases, each other. Human geography is also a factor. From the communities of under 2,000 people on Niue and Tokelau, to the relatively sizeable Fijian islands of around 890,000 inhabitants, their populations are tiny in comparison with many cities – let alone countries. Finally, one cannot ignore the modest financial resources available in the region and the limited (or even non-existent) port facilities on many islands.
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Notes
- 1.
The regional grouping discussed here is that comprised of the 22 Pacific Island countries served by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community: see www.spc.int.
- 2.
See Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Pacific Regional Transport Study: Final Report Volume 1 (June 2004, available at www.forumsec.org) 37, 49–50; von Tigerstrom, Development and the International Trade Regime: Challenges for South Pacific Island States, in International Law Issues in the South Pacific, ed. by Leane/von Tigerstrom (2005) 229–236; Asian Development Bank, Oceanic Voyages: Shipping in the Pacific (2007) 5 and 25–26, available at www.forumsec.org.
- 3.
See generally Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (supra n. 2).
- 4.
Williams/Hoppe, Safety Regulations for Non-Convention Vessels: The IMO Approach (26 June 2001) 8, available at www.imo.org; see similarly Williams, IMO-sponsored work on safety regulations for non-convention vessels, IMO News 4 (2000) available at www.imo.org.
- 5.
von Tigerstrom (supra n. 2) 234.
- 6.
Asian Development Bank (supra n. 2) 40.
- 7.
Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (supra n. 2) 34.
- 8.
Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (supra n. 2) 35.
- 9.
International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (adopted 1 November 1974, entered into force 25 May 1980). The Pacific Islands discussed here are parties to this agreement, with the exception of Tokelau (a territory of New Zealand).
- 10.
SOLAS, ch. I, regs. 1, 2(f) and (g).
- 11.
SOLAS, ch. I, reg. 6.
- 12.
SOLAS, ch. I, reg. 19.
- 13.
See generally Özçayir, Port State Control (2nd ed. 2004). In the Pacific context the relevant agreement is the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Asia-Pacific Region (Tokyo MoU) (adopted 1 December 1993).
- 14.
Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (supra n. 2) 74; Asian Development Bank (supra n. 2) 23, 56–57, 69 and 78.
- 15.
South Pacific Bureau for Economic Co-operation, South Pacific Maritime Code (1986) 5.
- 16.
Riches, Message from Deputy Director (Transport), Pacific Maritime Watch 57 (March 2013) 3, available at www.spc.int.
- 17.
Williams/Hoppe (supra n. 4) 9.
- 18.
Williams/Hoppe (supra n. 4) 9.
- 19.
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (adopted 23 May 1969, entered into force 27 January 1980), Art. 31(1).
- 20.
SOLAS, Art. I(b).
- 21.
SOLAS, preamble.
- 22.
Over 200 examples of exemptions and equivalents authorised under SOLAS are available at www.imo.org.
- 23.
SOLAS, ch. I, reg. 4.
- 24.
SOLAS, ch. II-1, reg. 1(4); ch II-2, reg. 4(1).
- 25.
US Code of Federal Regulations, title 46, subchapter T; International Maritime Organization, Equivalent arrangement accepted under regulation I/5: Statement by the Government of the United States (15 November 1989, SLS.14/Circ.87); United States Coast Guard, International Small Passenger Vessel Guide (15 June 2012) available at www.uscg.mil.
- 26.
SOLAS, ch. I, reg. 5.
- 27.
Special Trade Passenger Ships Agreement (adopted 6 October 1971, entered into force 2 January 1974). See SOLAS ch. II-1, reg. 1(5); ch. II-2, reg. 4(2).
- 28.
International Maritime Organization, Code of Safety for Special Purpose Ships (17 November 1983, Resolution A.534(13)).
- 29.
SOLAS, Arts. IV and V(a).
- 30.
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Art. 31(3)(b).
- 31.
“Agreement concerning specific stability requirements for ro-ro passenger ships undertaking regular scheduled international voyages between or to or from designated ports in North West Europe and the Baltic Sea” (adopted 28 February 1996); see also Resolution 14 of the 1995 SOLAS Conference: International Maritime Organization, Regional agreements on specific stability requirements for ro-ro passenger ships (29 November 1995, SOLAS/Conf.3/46). These rules subsequently became an EU-wide requirement: Directive 2003/25/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 April 2003 on specific stability requirements for ro-ro passenger ships, O.J. 2003 L 123/22.
- 32.
See similarly Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Art. 41(1)(b).
- 33.
See Boyle, EU Unilateralism and the Law of the Sea, Intl J Marine & Coastal L 21 (2006) 15–31, 30.
- 34.
On the possibility of introducing more stringent standards than those represented by an international agreement to which the state is a party see: Molenaar, Residual Jurisdiction under IMO Regulatory Conventions, in Competing Norms in the Law of Marine Environmental Protection: Focus on Ship Safety and Pollution Prevention, ed. by Ringbom (1997) 201–216; Johnson, Coastal State Regulation of International Shipping (2004), 43–44; Ringbom, The EU Maritime Safety Policy and International Law (2008) 222–223.
- 35.
Molenaar, Coastal State Jurisdiction over Vessel-Source Pollution (1998) 114.
- 36.
One suggestion has been the development of a standardised ship design for the Pacific Island trades, see Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (supra n. 2) 74.
- 37.
Boyle, Further Development of the Law of the Sea Convention: Mechanisms for Change, ICLQ 54 (2005) 563–584, 575–578 (emphasis in original). In the Pacific context see Herr, Small Island States of the South Pacific: Regional Seas and Global Responsibilities, in Order for the Oceans at the Turn of the Century, ed. by Vidas/Østreng (1999) 203–214.
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Marten, B. (2015). SOLAS Article VII and Pacific Island Passenger Services. In: Basedow, J., Magnus, U., Wolfrum, R. (eds) The Hamburg Lectures on Maritime Affairs 2011-2013. Hamburg Studies on Maritime Affairs, vol 28. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55104-8_10
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