LEGAL ASPECTS OF BUNKERING ACTIVITIES UNDER THE 1982 UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA AND INTERNATIONAL PRECEDENTS

Abstract

Bunkering activites are relatively popular in the world as they provide fuels for ships operating on the sea and reduce the costs of making landfall to fill fuels. However, those activities, which are often related to smuggling and evasion of tax and customs duty under the law of the coastal states, may lead to disputes between the coastal state and the flag state of the ship selling fuels.The paper analyses the related provisions of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea and especially the relevant precedents of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to clarify the legal aspects of bunkering activities on the seas under the jurisdiction of the coastal states and on the high seas. On that basis, it points out legal grounds for the coastal states to make and implement the law on those activies consistently with the Convention.