The 7th International Maritime Science Conference (IMSC) is organized by the Faculty of Maritime Studies Split, under the patronage of the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO). The Conference will be held in Solin, Croatia, on the April 20th and 21th of 2017. This is already the seventh edition of the IMSC which has been recognized as an international multidisciplinary academic and professional forum dealing with the topical issues of marine engineering, navigation, marine ecology, hydrography, marine automation and electronics, transportation and modes of transport, marine information systems, maritime law, management of marine systems, maritime health, marine finance, up-to- date technologies, safety and security, ecology and sea, intelligent transport systems, human resources in transport, education in transport, marine defence.
Project contribution:
The DELICROMAR research team members will participate in the conference by presenting two research papers.
The research paper titled “Berthing Contract Obligations According to the Business Practice of Croatian Marinas” will be presented by dr. sc. Vesna Skorupan Wolff, prof. dr. sc. Ranka Petrinović, and doc. dr. sc. Nikola Mandić. The authors will discuss the contract of berth which is not regulated by any special laws, meaning that its vital components, including the contractual obligations of the parties, are not specifically prescribed. The marina operators’ general terms and conditions of berthing contracts determine the scope and content of the parties’ obligations. This paper will analyse the provisions of the marina operators’ general business terms and conditions defining the obligations of the parties to the berthing contracts. The contract of berth creates certain obligations for both parties. The marina operator as the provider of the service of berth and the user of berth both have a number of contractual obligations they need to fulfil in order to realize their legal transaction. The parties’ obligations will hereby be carefully considered, including the marina operator’s obligation to provide a specialized and complex service of berth, which may also include supervision, storage, maintenance, servicing and repair of the vessel, as well as the corresponding obligations of the user of berth, typically the vessel owner or operator. The meaning and scope of the particular contractual obligations will be explained with an emphasis on the repercussions of the contract commitments on the contractual liability and determination of the contract’s legal nature. A developing nautical tourism market requires a balanced protection of economic and legal interests of marina operators and the vessel owners as the users of berths as its stakeholders, which is reflected through the right balance of contractual obligations. In view of the current conditions prevailing in the nautical tourism and the trends of its growth, the paper will present the thesis on requirements for the standardization of the provisions regulating the parties’ obligations in the marina operators’ general terms and conditions, in a way that they should be categorised by the criteria of the scope and the contents of the services they provide. The presentation from the conference is available here.
The second paper is titled “Prevention of Pollution by Yachts’ Sewage in the Ports of Nautical Tourism - The Legal Framework” which is going to be presented by prof. dr. sc. Dorotea Ćorić and doc. dr. sc. Adriana V. Padovan in co-authorship with Lukša Čičovački, Head of Sector, Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure. The paper will deal with the positive law regulating the standards of prevention of pollution by ships’ sewage and its specific application in the context of activities performed within the ports of nautical tourism (marinas). The problem of pollution by sewage from yachts and other recreational is specific considering the large and increasing number of yachts sailing in Croatian waters, the particular technical characteristics of pleasure craft, the way they are constructed and certified, the manner in which they are used and operated, and the fact that the nautical ports in which the yachts and other pleasure craft are berthed are special purpose ports subject to a specific legal and management regime. Croatia, is a party to MARPOL, the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships. In particular, the standards of prevention of pollution by sewage are governed by MARPOL Annex IV. Whilst MARPOL regulates prevention of pollution standards for the larger vessels, most of the yachts and pleasure craft are outside its scope of application. However, these vessels are subject to the Directive 2013/53/EU on recreational craft and personal watercraft imposing mandatory installation of holding tanks to watercraft fitted with toilets. The relevant MARPOL and EU standards are implemented in the national law through the Croatian Maritime Code, the Maritime Domain and Seaports Act and the respective bye-laws, enforced through the flag and port state jurisdiction of the Republic of Croatia and the system of inspection control and sanctioning of maritime offences. The discharge of sewage into the sea is prohibited within the Croatian territory. The adequate port reception facilities must be fitted in all Croatian ports, including the ports of nautical tourism where it is a responsibility of the concessionary of the port. The authors critically examine whether and how the relevant pollution prevention standards are implemented in the context of yachting and marinas with a view of proposing certain improvements. The presentation from the conference is available here.
The conference website is http://www.pfst.unist.hr/imsc/.