China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2024 Jun;31(28):40436-40444. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-30817-w. Epub 2023 Nov 18.
Ship-source pollution is one of the important contributors to marine environment pollution. Because the legal status of the Arctic shipping routes is not clear, there is a considerable degree of dispute in the application of the rules on the prevention and control of ship-source pollution. The increased melting of sea ice undermines the legal legitimacy of the "ice-covered areas" clause under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The conflict between the application of the Polar Code and "ice-covered areas" will also reach an initial conclusion in the context of melting sea ice. However, the inadequacy of ship-source pollution rules in the Polar Code hampers its application, which has led to a negative impact on the more active role in the governance of pollution from Arctic shipping. For replying to the Challenges in the prevention of ship-source pollution in Arctic shipping routes, the relevant rules of the Polar Code need to be further improved, while a more binding HFO ban according to ship types needs to be applied. Therefore, a more important role in the future Arctic governance mechanism will be played by the enhanced enforcement of the Polar Code, meanwhile, the target for uniform international regulation of preventing and controlling ship-source pollution in Arctic shipping routes should be achieved.
船舶源污染是海洋环境污染的重要成因之一。由于北极航道的法律地位尚不明确，在船舶源污染防治规则的适用上存在相当程度的争议。海冰的大量融化破坏了《联合国海洋法公约》下“冰覆盖区”条款的法律合法性。《极地规则》与“冰覆盖区”之间的适用冲突也将在海冰融化的背景下得出初步结论。然而，《极地规则》中船舶源污染规则的不完善阻碍了其适用，这对北极航运污染治理中更积极的作用产生了负面影响。为了应对北极航运船舶源污染防治面临的挑战，《极地规则》的相关规则需要进一步完善，同时需要根据船舶类型适用更具约束力的高含硫燃油禁令。因此，未来北极治理机制中，《极地规则》的强化执行将发挥更重要的作用，同时，实现北极航运船舶源污染防治的统一国际规则目标。
