The London Convention on salvage at sea - SALVAGE 89 - was signed in 1989, and focuses, inter alia, on the environment. It regulates the salvaging of the maritime environment, and, above all, gives the salvager the right to a reward for action that was directed towards avoiding or limiting damage to the environment. The ratification of the SALVAGE 89 Convention by Poland will require changes in the 1961 code of maritime law. The Baltic is a heavily polluted sea, and the introduction of any legal instrument that may result in steps to combat environmental pollution is highly desirable. The SALVAGE 89 Convention came into force on 14 July 1996. The author of this essay is a supporter of Poland's ratification of the Convention.

The article regards the long controversial issue of classification institutions undertaking maritime administrative tasks. This issue has recently been regulated by both international (IMO) and European law. The author analyzes to what extent these changes are being implemented into Polish law. The consequences of European Union accession can be lethal for the Polish Ship Register. A great number of executive acts concerning "Polish classification institutions" will have to be changed quickly. Although the Polish Ship Register is not recognized by the European Commission, Poland has already applied for such recognition. However, potential recognition of this body will be effective in Poland only.

Classification societies are part of the world's safety system on the seas, and currently there are in excess of fifty in operation. Ten of the largest organizations belong to the International Association of Classification Societies. They determine classes and conduct reviews of about 90% of global merchant tonnage engaged in commercial activities throughout the world. The primary aim of the classification system is to improve the safety of human life and goods at sea by ensuring that vessel technical state is adequate. Vessel classification is based on an agreement entered into between the classification institute and the vessel owner. This agreement defines the obligations of the parties and sets forth regulations regarding responsibility. The country of the ship's flag is foremost responsible for safety at sea. Unfortunately, some countries fail at meeting this obligation and do not want or are unable to guarantee that their vessels meet international standards. In order to close this loophole, port inspections were put into force. Countries conducting port inspections of vessels should cooperate with the country of the ship’s flag and classification institutions.

The international community has conventions which regulate matters connected with the transport of cargoes by sea. In the second half o f the twentieth century an attempt was made to regulate multimodal transport. In 1980, under the auspices o f UNCTAD, a Convention on International Multimodal Transport of Goods was adopted. However, it has still not been implemented. It is a move in the direction of the complete regulation of the transport of goods by various means of transport. In 2001 the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) began work on a convention relating to international goods transport. The new convention is intended to replace the La Haye Regulations, the La Haye/Wisby regulations and the Hamburg regulations. The author of this paper considers that the application of unified principles to various means of transport maybe be unsuccessful. The project for the future convention applies to the transport of cargoes wholly or in part by sea. The author refers to maritime transport law and shows what changes the future convention is to introduce.

Obligation to use the best available technology (BAT) in the protection of the environment is envisaged in many international treaties. It is not only legal, but also moral obligation. Treaties concluded under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that aim at the protection of the environment and the prevention of pollution from ships, enshrine the precautionary principle which encompasses the obligation to use the best available technology. Many IMO treaties consider technological development, some of them even drive it, however, not all standards are based on the best and the newest solutions. The discussion at the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee regarding the energy efficiency design index demonstrates the impact of political and economic interests on the text of adopted standards. The Initial IMO strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships identifies levels of ambitions consistent with the Paris Agreement. In the shipping industry this will be achieved, if the adopted standards were based on the best available technology.

The preamble to the international convention SALVAGE 89 contains the principle of protecting the maritime environment. Damage done to the environment means real physical damage done to human health or life at sea, or to resources in coastal waters or those inland, or to areas adjacent to these, caused by pollution, contamination, fire, explosion, or other similar serious events. The principles for calculating rewards for those who perform rescues are contained in article I 3 and 14 of the SALVAGE 89 convention. The new convention, just like the 191 O international convention on the lack of uniformity in several regulations concerning assistance and saving, is in favor of the principle ,,without saving there is no reward." Article 14 of SALVAGE 89 contains the principle of allocating rewards to those who through their efforts prevent (or lessen) environmental damage. Such a reward is called special recompense. It seemed that the 1989 convention had accommodated the interests of all parties. However, in practice it has emerged that those who perform rescue efforts continue to be unhappy about the solutions that have been adopted. A new solution concerning reward for saving has been adopted in the SCOPIC clause. An appeal to this clause in an agreement is entirely dependent on the will of the saving party. The essence of the clause is to introduce a new method of calculating the special recompense owed to the saving party for his/her actions, in the course of which environmental damage was avoided or lessened.

The author challenges the views opposing ratification by Poland of United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea (The Rotterdam Rules 2008). The ratification neither collides with the Vienna Convention on the Law o f the Treaties (VCLT1969) not it would put Poland at risk o f a dispute with states parties to Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage o f Goods by Road (CMR 1956). The Rotterdam Rules were drafted as part of the UN international legal system and have been scrutinized by the UN legal advisors. The Rotterdam Ruled do not affect the scope of application of CMR or any other convention on carriage of goods. Poland is yet to decide whether to ratify the Rotterdam Rules.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), referred to as the “constitution of the seas and oceans”, established the legal regime of the seas and oceans. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has a mandate as a global legislative entity to further regulate maritime issues on the basis of many of its provisions. IMO is explicitly mentioned in only one of the articles of UNCLOS, while several provisions of the Convention on the Law of the Sea refer to the ‘competent international organization’ in connection with the adoption of international rules and standards for shipping in matters relating to maritime safety and the prevention, reduction and control of marine pollution by ships. Bearing in mind the global mandate of the Organization as a specialized agency within the United Nations system established by the Convention on the International Maritime Organization, the expression ‘competent international organization’, when used in the singular in UNCLOS, applies to IMO. From 1973 to 1982, the International Maritime Organization actively participated in the work of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea to ensure that the development of IMO instruments was in line with the fundamental principles of UNCLOS. By including in several IMO conventions provisions that clearly state that these conventions do not infringe the codification and development of the law of the sea in UNCLOS, many interpretation doubts have been minimized.