Who takes responsibility when a ship sinks? | Explained

Smoke Brees from the Singaporean ship MV Wan Hai 503 during a rescue operation that is performed by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), together with the Indian Marine and Indian Air Force, in Kochi on June 13, 2025. | Photocredit: X/@Indiancoastguard via Ani Video Grab

The story so far: On June 9, MV Wan Hai 503A ship in Singapore, almost 88 nautical kilometers flew in front of the Beypore Coast of Kerala. The ship wore more than 2,000 tons of fuel and hundreds of containers, the combustion of which has been concerned about the potential ecological impact. Search activities for the dangerous containers are still on. Earlier on May 25, the Liberian container ship MSc Elsa 3 dropped off the coast of Kochi, Kerala.

Who arranges global shipping?

Global trader shipping is mainly regulated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The IMO is one of the most powerful UN agencies, because many of its regulations and guidelines apply to shipping, given the multinational character of the industry. Countries that are members of the IMO, including India, sign various conventions that set standards with regard to pollution, safety, accidents, liabilities and responsibilities, after which the Member States adopt the correct domestic legislation or establish rules that synchronize with convention recipes. In India it is the Directorate -General (DG) of shipping that issues reports for such purposes. In some cases, parliament sanction may also be necessary.

In general, India is a signer of many conventions, with a few, such as the Ballast Water Convention 2004 and the Hazardous and harmful substances (HNS) of 2010. The HNS treaty is about liability and compensation for damage to the transport of dangerous and harmful substances on ships. Given the increasing accidents on the coast, India can be operated by ratifying this treaty. In the case of the Elsa 3In which many containers that transport harmful substances, such as calcium carbide, India will look for legal remedies under its own laws for the shipping shipment.

Ships are the property of companies around the world. Greece and China lead in Huizen for many of these companies. But the ships are often registered in various other countries for convenience and convenience of operations. Although members of the IMO and governed by IMO standards, such countries offer less intrusive control and are therefore called flags of convenience (FOC). Liberia is such a country, Marshall Islands is another.

Who is liable for the loss of freight and any damage to the environment?

The shipowner is liable for both. The trade in goods is governed by a contract called De Bill of Strate, which covers the transport of goods from one port to another and is issued by the Schip owner to the exporter while loading freight. The owner of the Bill or Hading is the owner of the load. The invoice of loading is a contract that states that the owner is sent, among other things, the load from one port to another to another. The invoice of loading is transferred to the importer or the addressee, according to various shipping forms, after payment to the exporter. The importer usually opens a credit letter to the exporter and the bank then expands the credit and acquires today’s invoice from the exporter. When the recipient receives the load and makes the payment, he will receive the bank’s invoice from the bank.

In the case of damage or loss of freight, the SCH sheet must pay the person who owns the account of the account. But that payment is covered by the Club Protection and Indemnity (P&I), a cluster of different insurance companies that share the risk. Damage to the body of the ship and the machines, that is a business loss for the owner, is usually covered by compensation. But in P&I, the insurer also protects the owner against any claims on the owner, such as in the case of damage to the environment or loss of freight or loss of life on board the ship and elsewhere as a result of an accident in which the ship is involved.

International conventions have limited the liability of the shipowner on the loss of freight, but there is no limit for claims against environmental damage, such as in the case of oil pollution or hazardous substances. The latter may apply to the sunken containers of Elsa 3 or Wan Hai 503 That caught fire. Oil pollution damages itself a huge reach – which influences fish catch, tourism, loss for other companies, transport and so on. The International Convention for the prevention of pollution by ships maintains the polluter who pays principle. However, sometimes national laws protect against extensive and possibly endless claims.

Who should save a ship that closed?

This responsibility also rests with the shipowner. The Nairobi Convention on the removal of wrecks, 2007 arranges this situation and India is a signer. Below the shipowner whose ship has sunk in the sovereign waters of India – to 200 nautical miles from a reference line on the coast – must save the ship. In the event that the ship cannot be reflected, especially if the waters are too deep, the shipowner is liable for claims of damage.

Why do ships still sink?

Although advanced materials, knowledge, expertise and skills respond to the construction of ships, they are exposed to the whims of the sea and the multi -layered impact cannot always be predicted in an appointed way. For example in Elsa 3When the ship began to tilt on the one hand – mention, in the shipping of the language – containers that were stored on top fell into the sea that was already rough. This led the list to increase on the heavier side that could have caused the ship to sink.

Very often synchronize a series of errors, mistakes and minor incidents to create a large accident. In itself, each of these mistakes and incidents are not the cause of many worries. Too often such mistakes are made by humans and often coarse. Nowadays, trade ships tend to sail close to the coast in search of signals from mobile phones, so that seafarers with roaming facilities can stay in contact with their friends or family. A pillowA bulk carrier, ran on the ground of Mauritius in 2020, which led to an oil leak, because it came too close to the coast in search of signals for mobile phones. This was during the COVID-19 Pandemie when seafarers spent longer periods at sea in the midst of concern about their health and those of their families’.

The unsinkable Titanic fell due to human errors. But after sinking, a convention called Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) was created. Solas is one of the most important conventions that arrange shipping and is often revised. An important lesson from the Titanic, which has now been implemented as a SOLAS standard, is that lifeboats on either side of the ship must have sufficient capacity to wear the number of people the ship is designed to wear. This means that if the ship tilts to one side and the lifeboats are accessible on only one side, even then, they must be able to wear all those people on board in safety.

The shipping industry learns from every accident. The IMO rewinds and complements its guidelines periodically with regard to ship design and construction that are then adopted by the industry.