Decisión nº: 001448

In February 2003 the 1971 Fund Administrative Council recalled that the shipowner’s insurer, in addition to raising the issue as to whether the 1969 Civil Liability Convention and the 1971 Fund Convention had been correctly implemented into Estonian national law, had filed pleadings in Court maintaining that the ship was unseaworthy and that therefore under the insurance contract as well as under the Estonian Merchant Shipping Act, the insurer was not liable to pay compensation for the damage resulting from the incident. The Council supported the steps taken by the Director to protect the Fund’s interests, noting that the Fund had in pleadings maintained that the evidence presented regarding the condition of vessel did not establish that the shipowner was guilty of wilful misconduct and that the insurer was therefore not exonerated from liability for pollution damage.