Then States will require ships flying their flag to meet better standards, undergo inspection, and carry proper commercial liability insurance.

Go get 'em in the new World Court Raoul!!!

Of course the cost to ship oil would go up substantially, and some wealth would be transfered from the shipping and oil businesses and into the insurance and international legal arenas. But that's probably a good thing if it cleans up the environment and causes the United States to go for alternative sources of energy.

Scott

P.S. More likely they wll make a scapegoat of the ship's captian and the oil company that held title to the oil...just like they did with the Exxon Valdiez oil spill. And that's pathetic truth: The whacko environmentalists will spin this in a way that nothing will get changed as they attempt to demonize everyone and solve nothing.