This short commentary aims to provide a general background and view on the environmental impact caused by maritime transport on oceans, focusing our attention on the pollution caused by crude oil leaked into them. Based on worldwide trends and statistics, the report also provides a range of innovative ideas to improve the applicability of environmental conventions to substandard ships that menaces the marine preservation. The protection of ocean environment has evolved from the early treatment of pollution as an appendix of maritime safety to the current engagement with prevention and control of marine pollution from ships. Although the first step in preventing marine pollution from ships was done in 1992 through the British Oil in Navigable Waters, which prohibited the discharge of oil and oily mixtures within the United Kingdom territorial waters, the concerns of international shipping community to strengthen their compromise with safety and environmental protection can be traced as of 1967 onwards, when the Torrey Canyon disaster took place and maritime shipping sector was visualized as source of marine pollution and consequently liable for compensation. Since then, a thick variety of international treaties dealing with this topic were negotiated by States under the auspices of the IMO as a specialized agency of the United Nations. That organization has played a key role in enforcing worldwide obligations and standards since shipping is –together with aviation- the most international mode of transport in the world. This feature may obviously be source of conflict of law rules, which can be addressed by applying specific treaties or, in most cases, through national law. Ships, in fact, are moving constantly between different countries and jurisdictions, and very often ship-owners, operators, officers and crew, charterers, insurers and the classification