Decision ID: 001400

In October 2002 the 1992 Fund Executive Committee noted that in September 2000 several beaches in north Galicia (Spain) were polluted by oil, which had necessitated clean-up by two local authorities. It was noted that investigations by the Spanish authorities had indicated that the oil could have been discharged within the Spanish Exclusive Economic Zone from the tanker Concordia 1, which had passed through the area at the assumed time of the oil spill on a ballast voyage from Rotterdam (Netherlands) to Sidi Kerir (Egypt). The Committee noted that the shipowner had denied that the oil had originated from the Concordia 1, but analyses of oil samples taken from the vessel by the Spanish authorities had indicated that the oil from the polluted beaches matched the oil taken from the vessel’s slops tanks. The Executive Committee endorsed the Director’s view that the 1992 Fund Convention applied to spills of persistent oil even if the ship from which the oil came could not be identified, provided that it was shown to the satisfaction of the 1992 Fund, or in the case of dispute to the satisfaction of a competent court, that the oil originated from a ship as defined in the 1992 Conventions. The Committee decided to authorise the Director to make final settlements on behalf of the 1992 Fund of all claims arising out of the incident in the event that the claimants were unable to obtain compensation under the 1992 Civil Liability Convention, but could demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Director that the pollution damage was caused by persistent oil originating from a ship as defined in the 1992 Civil Liability Convention.

Date: 30.09.2002
Category: Application of the Conventions
Subject: Applicability of the 1992 Fund Convention to pollution damage caused by spills from unidentified sources