One of the major obstacles to ratification of the 1996
HNS Convention had been difficulties regarding one
of the key requirements under the Convention, the
submission of reports on “contributing cargo”, that
is, on HNS cargo received in each State. Other
obstacles appeared to be related to the setting
up of a reporting system for packaged goods and
the difficulty of enforcing payment, in non-States
Parties, of contributions to the liquefied natural
gas account established under the Convention.
By addressing these problems, the 2010 Protocol
to the 1996 HNS Convention was considered an
important development towards the strengthening
of the international liability framework for shipsource
pollution. The 2010 HNS Protocol was open
for signature from 1 November 2010 to 31 October
2011 and thereafter has been open for accession.
While so far no State has yet acceded to the
Protocol, it should be noted that a set of guidelines
for reporting contributing cargo under the 2010 HNS
Convention (IMO, 2013j) was agreed by delegates
from 29 States at a workshop on reporting of HNS
organized in late 2012 by the IMO in cooperation
with the IOPC Funds.46 The guidelines are intended
to assist States with the Convention’s accession
or ratification, and were endorsed by the Legal
Committee of the IMO during its 100th session,
in April 2013. In so doing, the Legal Committee
expressed the following views: