BALEX BANNER 2

Wrecks as Environmental Risks: The Legal Framework

A seminar for state authorities and other interest groups who are working with shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea was organised on 29-30 November in Helsinki with the theme “Wrecks as Environmental Risks: The Legal Framework”. The seminar was organised in collaboration with Finnish Environment Institute Syke.

Seminar program
Seminar handout
Participants



Seminar presentations
If you wish to make use of the presentations, please contact the author first.

Setting the Scene: The Extent of the Problem, Potentially Polluting Wrecks in the Baltic Sea
Associate Professor Ida-Maja Hassellöv, Chalmers University of Technology



Overview of Wrecks in International Law - Partly Regulated, by a Multitude of Invernational Conventions

Adjunct Professor Henrik Ringbom, Åbo Akademi University







State Responsibility and Sunken Ships (Flag and Coastal State Perspectives)

Associate Professor Henning Jessen, World Maritime University




Environmental Threats from Wrecks: The Point of View of the Environmental Authorities
HRD Manager Jorma Rytkönen, Finnish Environment Institute


Lessons Learned from Canada with a Comparative Analysis on Selected EU Jurisdictions

Professor Neil Bellefontaine & PhD Tafsir Johansson, World Maritime University

Project WRENE

Professor Neil Bellefontaine, PhD Tafsir Johansson et.al.

Russian Legislation on Wreck Removal

Professor Alexander Skaridov, Admiral Makarov State Maritime University




A Coherent National Strategy: The Swedish Experience
PhD & Researcher Fredrik Lindgren, Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management


Does Antiquities Act Really Prevent Environmental Protection?

Legal Advisor Juha Maaperä, Finnish Heritage Agency


The State's Response to Wrecks Causing Environmental Risks - A Comparison of Roles and Responsibilities of the North European "Intervention Enforcers"

Professor Markku Suksi, Åbo Akademi University



Remedying Environmental Damage from Wrecks: The Liability of Owners and Salvors

Professor Emeritus Peter Wetterstein, Åbo Akademi University


Wreck Removal Contracts Between Governments and Private Parties: Scandinavian Experiences

Senior Legal Adviser Kjersti Tusvik, Norwegian Coastal Administration


Should Salvors Have a Greater Role in Removing Environmental Threats from Wrecks and What Legal Solutions are Required? What's Wrong with Existing Standard Contracts for Wreck Removal?
Director, Captain Nicholas Sloane, Resolve Marine Group

 
Examples of Administrative Complexities in Finland
LL.M. Ville Peltokorpi, Scientific and Technical Diver

Examples of Administrative Complexities, Finnish Environment Institute
HRD Manager Jorma Rytkönen

BALEX and the Finnish Environment Institute SYKE are organizing a seminar for state authorities and other interested parties who are working with shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea. The seminar with the topic “Wrecks as Environmental Risks: The Legal Framework” will take place 29-30 November 2017 in Helsinki, Finland.


BALEX and SYKE wish to highlight the legal issues linked to sunken shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea and related hazardous waste dumped in the sea. The focus is on the rights and obligations of the various parties involved in these operations in practice. This includes discussions on the requirements, limits and guidance placed by international law, national legislation and the national or local authorities as well as questions relating to distribution of costs and responsibilities between authorities, flag States, other owners and coastal States. The aim of the seminar is to shed light on the regulation of shipwrecks, highlight the existing problems, try to find solutions to them and improve the cooperation between different parties. The seminar will be concluded with a round table discussion for civil servants from different governmental authorities who work with wrecks in practice, with a view to finding practical solutions to existing challenges.


We are primarily concentrating on wrecks that are covered neither by cultural heritage rules nor by the Nairobi Convention on wreck removal. However, both instruments will obviously feature in the discussions. A particular emphasis will be on Finnish legislation and the Finnish administrative context, but in order to learn from each other and strengthen the international cooperation we warmly welcome participants from other Baltic Sea region states as well!