The legal regime regulating ship safety and pollution prevention provides an excellent illustration of contemporary trends of international law in general, and of the law of the sea and international environmental law in particular. The sources of law are expanding in several directions. The number of global instruments – both ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ law – is constantly increasing and regional organizations are being more and more concerned with matters affecting traditional freedoms of the seas. Frequently different levels of norms cover the same issues, thus creating competing – possibly even conflicting – rules. The present volume provides not only a detailed examination of current legal issues relating to the variety of rules and rule-makers in the field of marine environmental protection, but also relates the recent developments to international law in a wider context. It contains revised and edited versions of the papers presented at a conference in the Aland Islands, Finland, in August 1996, convened by the Department of Law of Abo Akademi University, Finland.