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INTRODUCTION
Marine podution from ships, whether caused by operational discharges or accidents, is a very serious problem. Most commonly associated with vesselsource podution are od spills, which cause devastating effects on the marine environment. Od spills can foul the coastline in no time and kill a large number of sea creatures. Moreover, vessel-source pollution can pose a great tiireat to local fisheries and the tourism industry. Primary responsibility for regulating pollution from ships rests wim die flag State. Flag States used to have sole responsibdity in this regard, but for many years a number of flag states have been either unwilling or unable (due to, sometimes, the lack of dieir irdrastructure and/or human resources) to take die necessary action to discharge their duty. Moreover, die problems of die exercise of the powers of flag States have been exacerbated by the advent of 'flags of convenience' (FOC) countries, most of which (if not all) laxly enforced relevant rules and regulations for their ships. As a result, mere has been an increased use of port States' powers of control and jurisdiction over ships visiting their ports over tiie past 30 years. The willingness of port States to exercise powers of control and jurisdiction over sub-standard ships is important in controUing and reducing vessel-source podution. Ships not complying with the minimum standards contained in international maritime conventions such as MARPOL 73/78,3 SOLAS,2 STCW,3 and posing a significant risk of harm to seafarers on board; to other ships; and to the marine environment have been termed sub-standard ships.
In the context of dealing with sub-standard ships it is helpful to divide port State powers into Port State Control (PSC)4 and Port State Jurisdiction (PSJ) although such powers are exercised holistically for a wide range of purposes such as fisheries, customs, immigration, national security, and merchant shipping. PSJ concerns the port State's powers to prosecute ships and to impose fines on them for violations of international rules and standards. The key distinction is mat with PSC, die port State limits itself to taking an administrative measure of control, such as detaining a ship in port until various corrective measures have been taken or ordering it to proceed to the nearest shipyard for repairs: in the case of PSC, unlUce...