Analysis of Article 219 of the UNITED NATIONS Convention on the LAW of the Sea: with Reference to Port State Control

This paper has analyzed the provision of Article 219 and the weight of its presence within the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It is very important to see that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as the so-called the constitution of the oceans attempts to prove its presence by enacting such a rather detailed article regarding port State control although there are a number of port State control provisions pro-vided for in International Maritime Organization(IMO) conventions such SOLAS, MARPOL or STCW. The signifi-cance of Article 219 is that it requires States party to UNCLOS that are not party to IMO Conventions to conduct port State control against visiting vessels that threaten the marine environment. This paper has also discussed that it is permitted that based on the prevalent view amongst commentators, the wording “applicable rules and standards relating to the seaworthiness of vessels” provided for in Article 219 may be viewed as international ‘Construction, Design, Equipment and Manning’ rules and standards as this arti-cle clearly functions as the base of port State control.