Shipping ports

Ordinance on the discharge of ship waste and cargo residues in seaports

Lower Saxony Port regulations

Lower Saxony Port Security Act

Implementation in Lower Saxony of the Wasserhaushaltsgesetz (WHG) itself implementing the Water Framework Directive. Especially the § 72 on the maintenance of ports, landing and transhipment point

Ordinance on competences in the field of water law [§ 1 - Responsibility of the state company for water management, coastal and nature conservation]

Ordinance on responsibilities in the field of nature conservation and landscape management [§ 3 State agency for water management, coastal and nature protection, Biosphere Reserve Administration]

Regulation on use of sulfur-containing marine fuels in seaports

Regulation on background checks according to Lower Saxony Harbor Security Act

Ordinance on responsibilities in the field of transport (Authorization for traffic)

Regulation on the spatial planning program of Lower Saxony (LROP-VO)

Law amending the Lower Saxony Implementation Act to the Federal Nature Conservation Act and other laws on nature conservation law. Special protection purposes of single core zones were updated (e.g. grey seal). The zonation maps were revised, updated and adapted to the change of the nautical chart.

Law regarding the agreement on a joint supervisory and monitoring authority for elevator systems in the area of Maritime shipping

State Ordinance regarding seismic work. § 24 regarding the storage and safekeeping of explosives on ships and radiotelephone connections

Law regarding the protection of the Wadden Sea National Park in Schleswig-Holstein. It is the most important basis for the protection Wadden Sea in Schleswig-Holstein

Law regarding the improvement of security in the Schleswig-Holstein ports (Port Security Act)

Law for the protection of Nature. With this law, regulations are made that supplement the BNatSchG (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz) or deviate from it while observing certain rules and principles.

State regulation regarding marinas

State ordinance for the implementation of the Port Security Act (Port Security Implementation Ordinance - HaSiDVO)

State ordinance for the ports in Schleswig-Holstein

State regulation on the use of watercraft (Water Transport Ordinance - WVO)

State ordinance regarding safety when handling dangerous goods in the Schleswig-Holstein ports (Port Security Ordinance - HSVO)

Law regarding State Water

State ordinance on the competence of the water and coastal protection authorities

Establishes a legal framework regarding the protection of submarine telegraph cables outside territorial waters.

Agreement for co-operation in dealing with pollution of the North Sea by oil and other harmful substances.

Aims to prevent all types of pollution at sea and ensures that goods transported are packaged in a way that they can be safely transported. It is applicable to all cargo-carrying ships. It is updated evey two years.

Prevents unnecessary delays in maritime traffic, aids co-operation between governments, secures the highest practicable degree of uniformity in formalities and other procedures.

Minimum permissible free board according to the season of the year and the ship's trading pattern

The Convention, adopted by IMO in 1969, was the first successful attempt to introduce a universal tonnage measurement system. The Convention provides for gross and net tonnages, both of which are calculated independently.

Affirms the right of a coastal State to take measures on the high seas as may be necessary to prevent, mitigate or eliminate danger to its coastline or related interests from pollution by oil or the threat thereof, following upon a maritime casualty.

Aims to ensure that adequate compensation is available to persons who suffer oil pollution damage resulting from maritime casualties involving oil-carrying ships.

Aims to resolve difficulties and conflicts which arise from the simultaneous application to nuclear damage of certain maritime conventions dealing with shipowners' liability, as well as other conventions which place liability arising from nuclear incidents on the operators of the nuclear installations from which or to which the material in question was being transported.

Aims to provide compensation for pollution damage to the extent that the protection afforded by the 1969 Civil Liability Convention is inadequate. Aims to give relief to shipowners in respect of the additional financial burden imposed on them by the 1969 Civil Liability Convention, such relief being subject to conditions designed to ensure compliance with safety at sea and other conventions. Also aims to give effect to the related purposes set out in the Convention.

Updates and replaces the Collision Regulations of 1960 which were adopted at the same time as the 1960 SOLAS Convention. One of the most important innovations in the 1972 COLREGs was the recognition given to traffic separation schemes - Rule 10 gives guidance in determining safe speed, the risk of collision and the conduct of vessels operating in or near traffic separation schemes.

Aims to maintain a high level of safety of human life in the transport and handling of containers by providing generally acceptable test procedures and related strength requirements.Facilitate the international transport of containers by providing uniform international safety regulations, equally applicable to all modes of surface transport. In this way, proliferation of divergent national safety regulations can be avoided.

Its objective is to promote the effective control of all sources of marine pollution and to take all practicable steps to prevent pollution of the sea by dumping of wastes and other matters.

Contains requirements to prevent pollution that may be caused both accidentally and in the course of routine operations. Concerns the prevention of pollution from oil, bulk chemicals, dangerous goods, sewage, garbage and gas.

Aims to prevent, mitigate or eliminate marine pollution by substances other than oil resulting from a maritime casualty.

Designed to consolidate and harmonize two earlier Brussels conventions dealing with passengers and luggage and adopted in 1961 and 1967 respectively. The Convention establishes a regime of liability for damage suffered by passengers carried on a seagoing vessel. It declares a carrier liable for damage or loss suffered by a passenger if the incident causing the damage occurred in the course of the carriage and was due to the fault or neglect of the carrier.

Comprehensive range of minimum standards for the safe construction of ships ans the basic safety equipment to be carried on board.

The 1992 protocol replaced the CLC Convention widened the scope of the Convention to cover pollution damage caused in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) or equivalent area of a State Party. The Protocol covers pollution damage as before but environmental damage compensation is limited to costs incurred for reasonable measures to reinstate the contaminated environment. It also allows expenses incurred for preventive measures to be recovered even when no spill of oil occurs, provided there was grave and imminent threat of pollution damage.
The Protocol also extended the Convention to cover spills from sea-going vessels constructed or adapted to carry oil in bulk as cargo so that it applies apply to both laden and unladen tankers, including spills of bunker oil from such ships.
Under the 1992 Protocol, a shipowner cannot limit liability if it is proved that the pollution damage resulted from the shipowner's personal act or omission, committed with the intent to cause such damage, or recklessly and with knowledge that such damage would probably result. The 2000 amendments raised the compensation limits by 50 percent compared to the limits set in the 1992 Protocol

Establishes and oversees satellite communications for shipping. Establishement of the International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO)

Aims to determine certain uniform rules relating to the limitation of liability for maritime claims. Chapter I defines persons entitled to limit liability, claims subject to limitation and claims excepted from it, conduct barring limitation, and counter claims. Chapter II sets the general financial limits of liability, provides a special limit for passenger claims, and deals with aggregation of claims. Chapter III concerns the limitation fund which may be constituted by any person liable under the Convention. Chapter IV defines the scope of application of the Convention, providing an option for Parties to exclude wholly or partially persons liable under the Convention from its application if certain conditions are met.

The Protocol of 1976 provided for the applicable unit of account used under the convention to be based on the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) as used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

First international convention on the safety of fishing vessels, recognising the great differences in design and operation between these vessels and other types of ships. While other vessels load cargo in port, fishing vessels sail empty and load their cargo at sea. The Convention included safety requirements for the construction and equipment of new, decked, seagoing fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over, including those vessels also processing their catch.

Intends to improve further the safety of ships, particularly tankers.

Establishes uniform standards of competence for seafarers.

Aims at developing an international SAR plan to ensure the rescue of persons in distress at sea no matter where an accident occurs. The operation is co-ordinated by a SAR organization. Establishes preparatory measures which should be taken, including the establishment of rescue co-ordination centres and subcentres. It outlines operating procedures to be followed in the event of emergencies or alerts and during SAR operations. Parties to the Convention are required to establish ship reporting systems, under which ships report their position to a coast radio station.

Provides guidances regarding the standards to be applied in the stowage and shipment of solid bulk cargoes excluding grain. New versions of the Code were released since its first publication.

It is an international safety regulation for the construction and equipment of ships transporting gases in bulk. It is part of the SOLAS Convention

Covers prevention of pollution by oil from operational measures as well as from accidental discharges; the 1992 amendments to Annex I made it mandatory for new oil tankers to have double hulls and brought in a phase-in schedule for existing tankers to fit double hulls, which was subsequently revised in 2001 and 2003.

Contains details the discharge criteria and measures for the control of pollution by noxious liquid substances carried in bulk; some 250 substances were evaluated and included in the list appended to the Convention; the discharge of their residues is allowed only to reception facilities until certain concentrations and conditions (which vary with the category of substances) are complied with. In any case, no discharge of residues containing noxious substances is permitted within 12 miles of the nearest land.  

Aims to to provide for a comprehensive suppression of unlawful acts committed against the safety of maritime navigation which endanger innocent human lives, jeopardize the safety of persons and property, seriously affect the operation of maritime services and thus are of grave concern to the international community as a whole

Deals with different types of garbage and specifies the distances from land and the manner in which they may be disposed of; the most important feature of the Annex is the complete ban imposed on the disposal into the sea of all forms of plastics including fishing gears.

The Protocol was primarily adopted in order to harmonize the Convention's survey and certification requirement with those contained in SOLAS and MARPOL 73/78. The 1988 Load Lines Protocol revised certain regulations in the technical Annexes to the Load Lines Convention and introduced the tacit amendment procedure (which was already applicable to the 1974 SOLAS Convention). Amendments to the Convention may be considered either by the Maritime Safety Committee or by a Conference of Parties.

Introduces in the SOLAS Convention provisions for survey and certificates harmonised with corresponding other international instruments. Summary of provisions: This Protocol was adopted in the framework of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), and replaces and abrogates the Protocol of 1978 relating to the Convention (Art. I). Parties undertake to give effect to the Protocol and its Annex, which modifies and adds provisions to the Annex of the Convention concerning, inter alia, definition of terms, inspection, surveys and control of ships, and issuance, endorsement and duration of certificates. Parties agree to communicate to the Secretary-General of the IMO, inter alia the measures they have adopted on the various matters within the scope of the Protocol (Art. III).

The Convention replaced a convention on the law of salvage adopted in Brussels in 1910 which incorporated the "'no cure, no pay" principle under which a salvor is only rewarded for services if the operation is successful. The 1989 Convention seeks to remedy this deficiency by making provision for an enhanced salvage award taking into account the skill and efforts of the salvors in preventing or minimizing damage to the environment.

Establishes a framework for international co-operation in the event of a major oil pollution. Parties to the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation (OPRC) are required to establish measures for dealing with pollution incidents, either nationally or in co-operation with other countries.
Ships are required to carry a shipboard oil pollution emergency plan. Operators of offshore units under the jurisdiction of Parties are also required to have oil pollution emergency plans or similar arrangements which must be co-ordinated with national systems for responding promptly and effectively to oil pollution incidents.
Ships are required to report incidents of pollution to coastal authorities and the convention details the actions that are then to be taken. The Convention calls for the establishment of stockpiles of oil spill combating equipment, the holding of oil spill combating exercises and the development of detailed plans for dealing with pollution incidents.
Parties to the convention are required to provide assistance to others in the event of a pollution emergency and provision is made for the reimbursement of any assistance provided.

International Code for the safe carriage of grain in bulk

The key regulatory instrument for securing cargo is the Code of Practice for Cargo Stowage and Securing (CSS Code. It contains 7 chapters with all relevant information about securing cargo. It differentiates between standardized stowing and securing systems (e.g. containers) and semi- or non-standardized stowage and securing (e.g. motor vehicles on ro-ro ships). In 14 annexes, the CSS Code provides specific requirements for different kinds of cargo, e.g. project cargo, logs, rolling cargoes. Of special importance are annex 13 (non-standardized cargo) and annex 14 (containers).