Decision ID: 001402

In October 2002 the 1992 Fund Executive Committee noted that in September 2002 an unknown quantity of oil had stranded on a 3km stretch of shoreline in Kent (United Kingdom) necessitating clean-up by two local authorities. It was noted that analyses of pollution samples had led to the conclusion that the oil residues were most likely to have originated from a spillage of heavy Middle Eastern crude oil. It was also noted that there were no refineries or pipelines in the vicinity of the affected area and that the Director was of the view that the oil most probably originated from an oil tanker. 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