Decision ID: 001660

In March 2005 the 1992 Fund Executive Committee noted that in January 2005 the Commercial Court in Paris had rendered a judgement in respect of two claims for a reduction in sales by an oyster grower in Carantec in Brittany, 50 km north of Brest, which had been rejected by the Fund on the grounds that the claimant’s business was located well outside the area affected by the oil spill arising from the incident. It was noted that the Court, whilst stating that national courts were competent to interpret the notion of damage in the 1992 Conventions, had nevertheless rejected the claims on the grounds that either the alleged losses did not exist or had not been proven and that there was no evidence of a direct or indirect link to the incident. The Committee noted that the claimant had also brought actions against the master of the Erika and that the Court had held that the actions were not permitted pursuant to Article III.4 (a) of the 1992 Civil Liability Convention. It was noted that the claimant had indicated that he intended to appeal against the judgement.

Category: Pure economic loss (fisheries and mariculture)
Subject: Loss of income from mariculture due to business interruption as a result of oil pollution