Lithuania accedes to the IMO 2007 Nairobi Convention

Lithuania has submitted the instruments of ratification of the 2007 Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks to the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organisation. According to Article 18(2) of the Convention, the Convention enters into force 3 months after the date on which the State deposits the relevant instrument. The provisions of the Convention enter into force for Lithuania on 5 February 2025. Upon ratification of the Nairobi Convention by the Republic of Lithuania, the scope of application of the Nairobi Convention will be the exclusive economic zone, the territorial sea, and the territory with the Republic of Lithuania seaports.

The purpose of ratifying the Nairobi Convention is to:

1. to regulate issues related to the disposal of shipwrecks;

2. to regulate the provision of information on the nature and location of wrecks;

3. to establish the shipowner’s responsibility concerning shipwreck;

4. to provide for compulsory insurance for ships at a certain level, guaranteeing reimbursement of the costs of recovery of the sunken vessel or part of it to the State in whose territory, territorial sea, or exclusive economic zone the wreck has occurred, or to the other States concerned;

5. to oblige all ships of 300 gross tonnage and upwards arriving in or departing from the seaports of the Republic of Lithuania, or arriving in or departing from offshore installations in the territorial sea, to hold a compulsory certificate of insurance or other financial guarantee.

According to the International Maritime Organisation, the Nairobi Convention is in force in 69 countries and has already been ratified by the Member States of the European Union: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and Romania.