Navigation (Marine Casualty) Regulations 1990

Costs, who pays and incentives

• Primary financial and resource responsibility lies with governments: the Code directs governments to ensure they have suitable personnel and material resources to undertake investigations (11). That implies public expenditure for investigation teams, VDR readout facilities and other logistical support (7.7; 11).
• Private parties (owners, masters, classification societies) bear compliance costs in providing records, access to crew and cooperating with investigators; they may also face reputational or liability consequences from published findings even though the stated purpose is preventive and not to apportion blame (8.1; 9.3; 2).

Compliance burden and bureaucratic discretion

• Compliance obligations for states include notification, invitation of other substantially interested States, arranging evidence access and producing reports (5.4; 8.1; 9.1; 12.1). For owners and masters the obligation is to notify their flag State and to comply with summonses to give evidence or produce documents (8.1; Schedule 2).
• The lead investigating State has discretion to set investigation parameters consistent with its laws, to determine custody and disclosure of evidence, and to coordinate how other agencies and states participate (7.3–7.6; 10.1). That discretion can affect the scope of public disclosure and the timing and form of participation by other states.

Trade‑offs and implementation risks

• Coordination trade‑off: the Code promotes cooperation (shared analysis, shared evidence) but requires mutual agreement on lead State and procedures; failure to reach agreement can delay or fragment investigations (6.2–6.5; 9.1).
• Tension between rapid safety action and ship movement: investigators are told not to delay ships more than absolutely necessary while also being required to start investigations as soon as practicable (5.3). This creates a trade‑off between preserving evidence and limiting commercial interruption.
• Resource and capability risk: effective implementation depends on States having suitably qualified investigators and material resources; under‑resourced States may be unable to execute the Code's procedures fully (11).
• Disclosure vs. cooperation: confidentiality protections and the promotion of immunity aim to encourage witness cooperation (1.3.3; 10.1), but requirements to include pertinent records in reports could still expose information that has commercial or legal consequences for private parties (10.2; 14.2). This affects private parties' incentives to cooperate and what they produce.

Concentrated benefits, diffuse costs, and possible substitution effects

• Benefits (safer operations, prevention recommendations) accrue to seafarers, passengers and the marine environment and are concentrated for parties directly affected by a casualty (2; 14).
• Costs (investigation resourcing, compliance by owners/masters) are borne by government and regulated private parties and are diffuse across taxpayers and the shipping industry. If one State declines to lead or participate, other States may conduct separate investigations, increasing duplication and cost (8.3; 12.4).

Bottom line (practical consequences)

• The Code creates a multi‑state framework for investigating marine casualties that emphasises prevention, cooperation, timely reporting and restrained disclosure of investigative records. It assigns operational responsibility to a lead investigating State while preserving roles for other substantially interested States and sets out practical steps for evidence handling, reporting and reopening in the light of new evidence (3; 7; 10; 12; 13). Who pays: primarily governments (11). Who decides: the lead investigating State in liaison with substantially interested States, subject to national law (7.1; 7.3; 3). What changes in behaviour: flag and coastal States are encouraged to investigate and to cooperate; owners/masters are required to report and to provide evidence; investigating authorities must prioritise prevention and make reports public where appropriate (6.1; 8.1; 9.1; 12.3).