Pollution in the marine environment, especially pollution caused by oil, is of major interest to the international community because the sea plays a major role in human life. With the rapid development of Vietnam’s maritime activities, the risk of oil pollution in Vietnam’s sea is increasing. Therefore, the study of the international laws on oil pollution caused by ships is also an urgent and necessary issue for Vietnam. The system of modern international laws has formed the legal regulatory framework to address oil pollution caused by ships at the sea by a series of international conventions related to oil pollution. With the comparison method and assessment method, the article describes a new idea for improving the oil pollution law system of Vietnam, based on the analysis and comparison of international conventions on oil pollution caused by ships with several Vietnam laws, including: United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982; International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978; International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage 1992; and International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage 2001. From these analyses and comparisons, the author offers some learned lessons for Vietnam, which have helped Vietnam to develop legal documents to improve the legal system regarding oil pollution – which is a necessity for Vietnam at present.
International Laws on Oil Pollution Caused by Ships and Their Enforcement in Vietnam