Decision ID: 001758

In October 2005 the 1992 Fund Executive Committee noted that in July 2005 the Commercial Court in Lorient had rendered a judgement in respect of a claim by the owner of a camping site in Morbihan for losses allegedly suffered in 2001, for moral damages and loss of image as a result of the incident. It was noted that the Fund had rejected the claim on the grounds that there was not a sufficient link of causation between the alleged losses and the contamination since, according to the information collected by the Fund’s experts, the incident had not, except in a few restricted areas, had any negative impact on tourism in the area after the 2000 season, which the claimant had been compensated for. It was noted that the Court had stated that it was not bound by the Fund’s admissibility criteria and that even if there had not been any traces of oil on the beaches in the south of Brittany after the summer of 2000, which had not been proven, this would not have been sufficient to exonerate the defendants if evidence had been brought that there had been a reduction in turnover in 2001 as a result of the incident. It was noted, however, that the Court had found that the claimant had not proved the existence of any such loss or that he had suffered moral damages or loss of image and had therefore rejected the claim.

Category: Pure economic loss (tourism)
Subject: Link of causation between the loss and the contamination