MV Rena Oil Spill In New Zealand—Latest Example Of Criminalization Of Marine Casualties

Maritime Developments Advisory

New Development

O n October 5, 2011, the MV Rena, a 47,000 ton container vessel registered in Liberia and owned by the Costamare Shipping group, struck the Astrolabe Reef off of Tauranga, New Zealand. At the time of this advisory, the ship is in extreme distress and on the verge of breaking up. Dozens of containers have fallen off of the ship, creating navigational and environmental hazards, and heavy slicks of oil, presumed to be bunker fuel, have begun to wash up on the shores of the North Island community. The New Zealand authorities have already, a little more than a week after the incident, brought criminal charges against the captain and the second officer, and there are reports that the government is considering whether to bring charges against the ship owner as well. The charges are under the Maritime Transport Act and relate to operating a vessel causing unnecessary danger or risk to person or property. The charges carry a monetary penalty and a prison term of up to one year. The spill has already been identified as New Zealand's worst marine environmental disaster, impacting some of New Zealand's most environmentally sensitive areas. Whilst the specific causes and circumstances of the ship running aground on the reef have yet to be determined, the relatively quick filing of criminal charges against the two ship's officers and the apparent discussions about ship owner criminal liability reflect the ongoing, and nearly inevitable, criminalization of significant marine casualties on a worldwide basis.

Background

The civil liability regimes for marine casualties, including significant oil spills, are well-established on the international level through various International Maritime Organization conventions and domestically in many countries. The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto and by the Protocol of 1997 (known as "MARPOL"), and the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage, 2001 (known as the "Bunker Convention"), are two examples of the way the international maritime community has attempted to address liability and compensation for oil spills such as the one involving the MV Rena.

In recent years, however, there has been an increasing focus on criminal liability for significant marine pollution incidents around the world. From the Erika and Prestige spills off the shorelines...