Ships always sail at sea with danger, so they need to be evacuated to the jurisdiction of nearby countries in the event of external reasons, such as unforeseen weather conditions, or internal defects in the vessel. Internationally, the interest and need for providing ship shelter were heightened through the accident of the M/V Erika, M/V Casto and M/V Prestige.
In 2003, IMO sought to present criteria for the system related to place of ship's refuge through Resolution A.949(23) "GUIDELINES ON PLACES OF REFUGE FOR SHIP IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE," and based on this, it established a system about place of refuge in Europe independently.
Meanwhile, in Korea, maritime safety is of course important as it is surrounded by sea on three sides, and Korea cannot be an exception to the problem related to providing place of refuge, especially when damage from illegal refuge by foreign fishing vessels is reported, but the readjustment of the relevant law system to prevent and cope with it seems insufficient.
On the basis of this need, this paper first identifies the general obligation of ships in need assistance derived from the regulation on Right of innocent passage of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the rights of the coastal countries, and introduces the relevant IMO resolutions and the relevant system of ship's refuge in force in Europe based on this resolution.
Lastly, the purpose of this study is to identify relevant domestic legal systems and to compare Korean domestic laws and European's and make legal suggestions.