While the strict liability offences provided in UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and MARPOL (International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships) clearly are intended to deliver redress, the way in which that redress is carried out is a matter for the judicial processes of the individual States – and they may go far beyond the Convention limitations of a fine. How the normative ethics of the society in whose jurisdiction the issue will be tried may go far beyond that and demand retribution, as we encounter with the cases of the Hebei Spirit and the Prestige. In such cases, seeking to criminalise the Master as the most convenient person to blame all too often appears to be the prime function in sentencing.