One by one the world's shipping organisations have issued press statements expressing their concern over the treatment of the Hebei Two. Getting them home is a hollow victory: they have served time for the alleged crime and are still guilty in the eyes of the law. While the charges brought for destruction of property have been belatedly dismissed, charges brought for polluting pristine Korean coastline still stand. The verdict of 'innocent of all charges' handed down by the Daejeon District Court in June 2008 has not been upheld. The Hebei Spirit is viewed by the shipping industry as a dog's breakfast. Seafarers need to know how their conduct and actions will be determined by local courts, based on inter-rnnationally agreed standards. This case has shown that such standards are given short shrift when a legal system works too closely with a political system, whether in South Korea or not.
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