Although international legislation to alleviate the situation already existed at that time – the Marpol 73-78 Convention – the shortcomings in its application and enforcement were becoming evident and it was also clear that the civil liability systems governing ship-source pollution in force then were not dissuasive enough.
Une réglementation internationale, la Convention MARPOL 73/78, avait beau déjà exister pour pallier cette situation, elle n'était pas assez appliquée ni respectée et, de surcroît, les régimes de responsabilité civile applicables en cas de pollution causée par les navires n'étaient pas suffisamment dissuasifs.