Offering refuge is better than refusing

Historically, there is a long tradition of granting vessels in distress a place of refuge, particularly for humanitarian reasons, but more recently there has been a growing apprehension of coastal states to grant refuge. This apprehension has mostly centred upon the risk of pollution damage. The liability of the shipowner for damage to third parties, the existing liability regimes and the sufficiency of the existing compensation mechanisms, particularly bearing in mind the shipowner’s right to limit liability are reviewed. Against this background the paper analyses different options of decision making regarding whether refuge is granted or not. The conclusion is that the interests of the coastal state and the vessel need to be balanced against each other and that that balance in the majority of situations should result in gran ting a place of refuge.