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www.maritimeprofessional.com Maritime Professional 11 resolution based on the flag State’s judgment concerning any required corrective action or, if warranted, appropriate enforcement response. If warranted, corrective entries could be made in the vessel’s ORB. This approach has the benefit of being consistent with the intended compliance assurance regime under MARPOL and UNCLOS and, for a number of reasons, would be far more likely to result in a balanced and measured resolution that would be advantageous to the ves- sel’s owner. Additionally, unless the discharges in question had occurred in United States territorial waters, it would pre- clude further enforcement action by the United States.

CONCLUSION

The challenge of managing environmental compliance issues aboard vessels will only grow more difficult in the coming years. There are concrete steps that operators can take, as discussed above, to address these challenges intelli- gently and place themselves in a position to reduce the expanding enforcement risks.

The Authors

Jeanne M. Grasso, partner at Blank Rome, focuses her practice on maritime, environmental, and transportation law for domestic and international clients. Ms. Grasso counsels owners and operators of vessels, cargo owners, and facilities, including manufacturing facili- ties, both marine-side and inland. Ms. Grasso writes and lectures extensively on criminal enforcement of environmental laws, Coast

Guard regulatory matters, and maritime security.

Gregory F. Linsin, partner at Blank Rome, is an experienced criminal litigator and concentrates his practice in the areas of white collar crim- inal law, environmental criminal litigation involving shore-based and maritime clients, environmental compliance, and internal corporate compliance investigations. Prior to joining Blank Rome, Mr. Linsin served for more than 25 years with the United States Department of

Justice, where he managed and prosecuted complex criminal cases in federal courts throughout the country. Mr. Linsin is a frequent author and speaker on environmental criminal and compliance issues.