University of Tehran Public Law Studies Quarterly 2423-8120 54 4 2024 12 21 Floating Damage; Feasibility of Compensating for Environmental ‎Damage to the Seas Caused by Maritime Transport Floating Damage; Feasibility of Compensating for Environmental ‎Damage to the Seas Caused by Maritime Transport 2499 2522 98051 10.22059/jplsq.2023.353427.3247 FA Mozhde Bostan Ph.D. in Private Law. Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics. University of Isfahan. Isfahan. Iran Alireza Arashpuor Associate Prof., Department of Law, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran Journal Article 2023 01 07 Floating damage refers to the natural compensatory capabilities, the disappearance, or the invisibility of damage caused by harmful behavior or operations. Due to the characteristics of the seabed, the damages resulting from maritime transportation are fluid or floating, which creates a significant challenge for legal systems in protecting the marine environment. These challenges arise in three areas: the feasibility of assessing the damages, how to evaluate them, and finally, determining and issuing judgments regarding the damages incurred. This paper employs a descriptive-analytical method to address the concept of floating damage in the marine environment and to outline its characteristics. It concludes that the inefficiency of legal systems in protecting the marine environment is due to the lack of a specific victim in most marine environmental damages, the fluidity of the damages incurred, and ultimately the absence of clear criteria for assessing and compensating these damages. The paper suggests a strategic approach to compensating damages to the marine environment, the criteria should be the estimation and relative assessment of the damages, regardless of whether the damages are present, disappeared, or compensated naturally. Such estimations and assessments are carried out considering scientific, economic, and expert criteria. As a result, judicial decisions in this area focus on the feasibility of realization and continuity of the damage rather than its definitive or tangible realization. Floating damage refers to the natural compensatory capabilities, the disappearance, or the invisibility of damage caused by harmful behavior or operations. Due to the characteristics of the seabed, the damages resulting from maritime transportation are fluid or floating, which creates a significant challenge for legal systems in protecting the marine environment. These challenges arise in three areas: the feasibility of assessing the damages, how to evaluate them, and finally, determining and issuing judgments regarding the damages incurred. This paper employs a descriptive-analytical method to address the concept of floating damage in the marine environment and to outline its characteristics. It concludes that the inefficiency of legal systems in protecting the marine environment is due to the lack of a specific victim in most marine environmental damages, the fluidity of the damages incurred, and ultimately the absence of clear criteria for assessing and compensating these damages. The paper suggests a strategic approach to compensating damages to the marine environment, the criteria should be the estimation and relative assessment of the damages, regardless of whether the damages are present, disappeared, or compensated naturally. Such estimations and assessments are carried out considering scientific, economic, and expert criteria. As a result, judicial decisions in this area focus on the feasibility of realization and continuity of the damage rather than its definitive or tangible realization. https://jplsq.ut.ac.ir/article_98051_c9580ba6cd20cc3ecb2d0c1ee07d30ff.pdf