Entry Into Force of the Supplementary Fund Protocol
The conditions for the entry into force of the Supplementary Fund Protocol were fulfilled on 3 December 2004 when the Protocol had been ratified by Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Norway and Spain, which had received an aggregate quantity of some 532 million tonnes of contributing oil during 2003. The Protocol will therefore enter into force on 3 March 2005.
Further information is available in the Press release issued by the IOPC Funds.
Text of the Supplementary Fund Protocol (IMO document).
Israel, South Africa,
Estonia, Tuvalu, Malaysia and Saint Lucia
to join the 1992 Fund
Israel will join the 1992 Fund with effect from 21 October 2005.
South Africa will join the 1992 Fund with effect from 1 October 2005.
Estonia will join the 1992 Fund with effect from 6 August 2005.
Tuvalu will join the 1992 Fund with effect from 30 June 2005.
Malaysia will join the 1992 Fund with effect from 9 June 2005.
Saint Lucia will join the 1992 Fund with effect from 20 May 2005.
Click on the links below to see up-to-date lists of:
Member States of the 1992 Fund
States Parties to the 1969 Civil Liability Convention
Publications
The 2003 Annual Report is now available in English, French, and Spanish.
Meeting in Barcelona about the HNS Convention
A meeting about the 1996 Convention on liability and compensation for damage in connection with the carriage of hazardous or noxious substances by sea (HNS Convention) took place in Barcelona, Spain on 19 May 2004. The meeting was organised by OCIMF in cooperation with other industry organisations and was intended primarily for the chemical and oil industries that would be contributors to the HNS Fund. Further information about the meeting is available via the Mareforum website and the OCIMF website.
Increase in limits of compensation for oil pollution damage
under the 1992 Civil Liability and Fund Conventions
On 1 November 2003, the limits of liability and compensation
under the 1992 Civil Liability Convention and the 1992 Fund
Convention increased by some 50.37%, resulting in a total of
some £164 million (US$308.5 million) being available for
each incident.
As a result of the experience of some major incidents in the 1990s (the Nakhodka in Japan and the Erika in France), a number of States considered that the limits of liability and compensation under the 1992 Civil Liability Convention and the 1992 Fund Convention were inadequate. The shipowner is normally entitled to limit his liability to an amount which is linked to the tonnage of the ship.
In October 2000, the Legal Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) considered a proposal by a number of States to increase the limits of liability and compensation under the 1992 Civil Liability Convention and the 1992 Fund Convention by using the special procedure laid down in the Conventions, the 'tacit amendment procedure'. The Committee adopted two Resolutions increasing the limits contained in the Conventions by some 50.37%. The amendments entered into force on 1 November 2003.
The increased limits of the shipowner's liability will be as follows:
(a) for a ship not exceeding 5 000 units of gross tonnage,
4 510 000 Special Drawing Rights (£4 million) (US$7
million);
(b) for a ship with a tonnage between 5 000 and 140 000 units
of tonnage, 4 510 000 SDR (£4 million) (US$7 million)
plus 631 SDR (£509) (US$959) for each additional unit
of tonnage; and
(c) for a ship of 140 000 units of tonnage or over, 89 770
000 SDR (£72.5 million) (US$136 million).
The amendment to the 1992 Fund Convention will bring the total
amount available under the 1992 Conventions for incidents occurring
from 1 November 2003 to 203 million SDR (£164 million)
(US$308.5 million).
Français
