Legal matters

The Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, 2007 provides the legal basis to enable States to remove, or to have removed, from their coastlines and waters around their coasts, wrecks posing a hazard to the safety of shipping or to the Marine environment. To achieve these objectives, the new treaty includes provisions on the reporting and locating of ships and wrecks and criteria for determining the hazard posed by wrecks, including assessment of damage to the Marine environment. It also regulates measures to facilitate the removal of wrecks, as well as the liability of the owner for the costs of locating, marking and removing of ships and wrecks. The registered shipowner is required to maintain compulsory insurance or other financial security to cover liability under the Convention.