129 / 532
113
WHAT IS THE LEGAL REGIME OF THE ARCTIC?
environment of the Arctic. The text mentions international law and the International
Maritime Organization. Under the framework of this organization the International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships was concluded in 1973. The
International Maritime Organization prepared a comprehensive set of
voluntary
international guidelines
85
(Guidelines for Ships Operating in Arctic Ice-covered
Waters
86
) for improving maritime safety and preventing pollution for ships navigating
in ice-covered waters in the Arctic. According to Heidar,
87
Iceland supports the idea
of
mandatory acceptance of the above mentioned Arctic Code
, which would require all
ships operating in ice-covered waters to have at least one trained navigator who has
undergone an approved training program for such navigation. It also states that,
considering the increasing navigation of cruise ships in polar waters, it is necessary
to adopt special international construction requirements for these ships.
88
Winkler
89
also stresses the need that the international community agree on transformation of
the
Polar Code
(Guidelines for Ships Operating in Arctic Ice-covered Waters) into
legally binding norms.
Similar to Heidar, in the case of cruise ships he stresses the need
to ensure that these ships were adequately prepared for navigation in the Arctic area
and for saving passengers and crew in case of accidents.
The Ilulissat Declaration explicitly emphasizes a different place that the law of
the sea provides for important rights and obligations concerning the protection of the
marine environment,
including ice-covered areas
. The basis for the protection of the
environment of the Arctic is the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982. Many
more treaties in the area of the law of the sea, however, have been concluded. The UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea contains in its Article 234 a regulation referring
to
ice-covered areas
. According to this article: “coastal states have the
right to adopt
and enforce non-discriminatory laws and regulations
for the prevention, reduction and
control of marine pollution from vessels in ice-covered areas
within the limits of the
exclusive economic zone
, where particularly
severe climatic conditions and the presence of
ice covering
such areas for most of the year create obstructions or
exceptional hazards
to navigation
, and
pollution of the marine environment
could cause major harm to or
irreversible disturbance of the ecological balance. Such laws and regulations shall
have due regard to navigation and the protection and preservation of the marine
environment based on the best available scientific evidence”. The five coastal states
of the Arctic Ocean have the right, by the application of Article 234, to adopt laws
and regulations which refer to ice-covered areas in their exclusive zone. In case the five
states shall enforce strict safety standards on vessels in their economic zones, then these
standards will constitute
solid basis for ensuring safe navigation
in the Arctic Ocean.
90
85
Heidar, T. H.,
op. cit.
, p. 639.
86
International Maritime Organization ‘Guidelines for Ships Operating in Arctic Ice-covered Areas’,
IMO doc. MSC/Circ.1056 and MEPC/Circ.399 (23 December 2002).
87
Ibid.
88
Ibid.
89
Winkler, T.,
op. cit.
, pp. 643-644.
90
Ibid.
, p. 644.