Carbon Intensity Indicator Ratings And Legal Status Of A Non-Compliant Vessel
- IJLLR Journal
- 2 hours ago
- 1 min read
Aditi Singh, National Law University and Judicial Academy Assam
ABSTRACT
Ocean-going vessels were given an A–E operational efficiency rating when the Carbon Intensity Indicator ("CII") under MARPOL Annex VI went into effect in 2023. However, a low grade was not directly penalized beyond the need for a corrective action plan. This article argues that CII reveals a structural mismatch between private charter-party law, which gives the charterer operational control, and public international law, which places compliance responsibility on the flag state and the vessel's "Company." It also looks at the legal ramifications that occur when a charterer's employment orders—on speed, routing, or fuel choice—drive a vessel into a D or E rating. The article illustrates how this misalignment is currently managed—and mismanaged—through contract in the absence of regulatory teeth, drawing on the doctrine of employment orders established in The Hill Harmony, the implied indemnity recognized in The Island Archon and The Kos, and the emerging BIMCO CII clauses. It concludes that a risk that the IMO regime itself refused to assign must be resolved by courts, arbitrators, and standard-form drafters while the IMO's blocked Net-Zero Framework is being adopted.
