BOSPHORUS QUEEN SHIPPING LTD CORP V RAJAVARTIOLAITOS (THE "BOSPHORUS QUEEN")

Case C-15/17, Court of Justice of the European Union, 11 July 2018

International law - EU law - Oil spill in EEZ from a foreign vessel in transit - Enforcement by coastal state - Jurisdiction of the court to interpret provisions of international law - Circumstances in which a coastal state may instigate proceedings against a foreign vessel - Freedom of navigation - Protection of the marine environment - Major damage or threat of major damage to the coastline, related interests or any resources in the territorial sea or EEZ - United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, article 220(6) - Directive 2005/35/EC on ship-source pollution, article 7(2) - MARPOL Convention 73/78 - Convention Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties, concluded at Brussels on 29 November 1969

In the originating proceedings before the Finnish court, BQS appealed a fine imposed on it by the Finnish Border Protection Agency in respect of an oil spill at the edge of the Finnish EEZ by BQS's vessel Bosphorous Queen, registered in Panama. No clean-up measures were taken in respect of the oil spill, which was not found to have caused any damage. The fine was imposed under the Finnish legislation implementing Directive 2005/35/EC on ship-source pollution. Finland and Panama, but not the EU and only some of its member states, were parties to the Convention Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties, 1969 (Intervention Convention). Finland and all the other member states, but not the EU itself, were parties to MARPOL. The court ruled as follows.