Executive Summary

This report contains the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) review of the following Category 1 major treaty action: Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks (Nairobi Convention). The Nairobi Convention was adopted on 18 May 2007 and entered into force on 14 April 2015. The Convention provides the legal basis for countries to remove, or have removed, wrecks (including objects lost at sea) in areas beyond the territorial sea (the Exclusive Economic Zone or EEZ) that may negatively affect navigation, the safety of lives, goods, property, and the marine environment.

Under this Convention registered ship owners of States Parties are held financially liable for wrecks they create, and it obliges the owners of vessels over 300 gross tonnage to have insurance or other financial security for the locating, marking and removal of any wrecks. The Convention also contains an optional clause where countries can extend the application of the Convention to the territorial sea. Australia will consider extending the operation of the Convention to the territorial sea at a later date.

Justifications for Australia acceding to the Convention include that the majority of wrecks in Australia occur in scenarios in which Australia cannot recover the costs under the existing domestic regulatory framework, such as when a foreign vessel creates a wreck in Australia’s EEZ; or when an object from a foreign vessel or Registered Australian Vehicle (RAV) creates a wreck in the EEZ or territorial sea; or when a domestic commercial vehicle (DCV) or recreational vessel creates a wreck in the EEZ. Further, wreck incidents in Australia are likely to increase with the rising use of e-commerce and the associated demand for shipping services. Larger container ships are increasingly used, which puts pressure on the shipping supply chain, and means that ships travel more commonly at full capacity, with added pressures to load and unload swiftly.

JSCOT conducted an inquiry into the Convention which included a public hearing on 25 March 2024, at which officials from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRDCA) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) participated as witnesses. Issues raised during the inquiry included the value of shipping to Australia, domestic regulatory gaps, economic benefits, the gravity of wrecks in Australia and environmental hazards.

The Committee also addressed the optional clause with respect to Australia’s territorial sea, the question of underwater cultural heritage, maritime trade, specific vessels that are covered, border issues and shifting wrecks, the current insurance situation, the definition of a wreck and the offshore gas and oil industry. The Committee believes that these issues were adequately addressed through the inquiry process, supports the treaty action, and recommends binding treaty action be taken.

The report also contains the Committee’s examination of one minor treaty action which was adopted by the Committee with a recommendation for binding treaty action: Amendment to Appendices I and II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.