INTERNATIONAL LEGAL PROTECTION OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT FROM POLLUTION FROM SHIPS ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE BLACK SEA=МІЖНАРОДНОПРАВОВИЙ ЗАХИСТ МОРСЬКОГО СЕРЕДОВИЩА ВІД ЗАБРУДНЕННЯ З СУДЕН НА ПРИКЛАДІ ЧОРНОГО МОРЯ

ABSTRACT
The article is devoted to the research of the protection features of the Black Sea from pollution as
a special area of the sea. There are determined pollution categories during the operation of ships
(during the implementation of maritime activities on the seabed; caused by port activities,
shipbuilding and ship’s repairing activities; the ingress of alien species or genetically modified
organisms into the marine environment; the release of garbage, food, household and operational
wastes into the sea; as a result of emergency circumstances – during accidents; and, pollution
resulting from the burial of ships at sea). The international legal framework for the protection of
the Black Sea marine environment from pollution during the operation of ships was analyzed. The
universal and regional levels of legal regulation of the prevention of marine pollution from ships
during their operation are highlighted. Particular attention is paid to the status of the Black Sea as
a special area and a particularly vulnerable sea area. The Black Sea was defined as a “special area”
of the sea, which is considered so vulnerable to oil pollution that discharges within it were
completely prohibited with a few and clearly defined exceptions. To do this, we should refer to the
provisions of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which shares the powers of states
in the protection of the marine environment from pollution from ships to the adoption of laws and
regulations aimed at protecting the marine environment from pollution from ships, and regarding
the enforcement of national laws and regulations, as well as international norms and standards for
the prevention of marine pollution from ships. The scope of these powers of states is differentiated
depending on the rules for which the marine zone is established, and also on the basis of who takes
measures to ensure compliance with the rules and regulations. It is emphasized that in their inland
waters and the waters of ports, states have full sovereignty and can establish special requirements
related to the reduction, control and prevention of marine pollution, which foreign vessels must
satisfy in order to enter and stay in these waters. It is noted that in order to increase the effectiveness
of all measures to protect the marine environment from pollution from ships, it is necessary to
clearly define the binding standards, that is, those that are international, the observance of which
states under whose flag the vessels fly, as well as coastal countries, may require vessels located in
their territorial waters or exclusive economic zone.