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Pollution Prevention
Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage
INTERNATIONAL
CONVENTION ON CIVIL LIABILITY FOR OIL POLLUTION DAMAGE (Brussels, 29 November
1969)
The States Parties to the present Convention,
conscious of the dangers of pollution posed by the worldwide maritime carriage
of oil in bulk, convinced of the need to ensure that adequate compensation is
available to persons who suffer damage caused by pollution resulting from the
escape or discharge of oil from ships, desiring to adopt uniform international
rules and procedures for determining questions of liability and providing
adequate compensation in such cases,
Article I
For the purposes of this Convention:
1. “Ship” means any sea-going vessel and any sea borne
craft of any type whatsoever, actually carrying oil in bulk as cargo.
2. “Person” means any individual or partnership or any
public or private body, whether corporate or not, including a State or any of
its constituent subdivisions.
3. “Owner” means the person or persons registered as
the owner of the ship or, in the absence of registration, the person or persons
owning the ship. However in the case of a ship owned by a State and operated by
a company, which in that State is registered as the ship’s operator, “owner”
shall mean such company.
4. “State of the ship’s registry” means in relation to
registered ships the State of registration of the ship, and in relation to
unregistered ships the State whose flag the ship is flying.
5. “Oil” means any persistent oil such as crude oil,
fuel oil, heavy diesel oil, lubricating oil and whale oil, whether carried on
board a ship as cargo or in the bunkers of such a ship.
6. “Pollution damage” means loss or damage caused
outside the ship carrying oil by contamination resulting from the escape or
discharge of oil from the ship, wherever such escape or discharge may occur,
and includes the costs of preventive measures and further loss or damage caused
by preventive measures.
7. “Preventive measures” means any reasonable measures
taken by any person after an incident has occurred to prevent or minimize
pollution damage.
8. “Incident” means any occurrence, or series of
occurrences having the same origin, which causes pollution damage.
9. “Organization” means the Inter-Governmental
Maritime Consultative Organization (today International maritime Organisation)
Article II
This Convention shall apply exclusively to pollution
damage caused on the territory including the territorial sea of a
Article III
1. Except as provided in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this
Article, the owner of a ship at the time of an incident, or where the incident
consists of a series of occurrences at the time of the first such occurrence,
shall be liable for any pollution damage caused by oil which has escaped or
been discharged from the ship as a result of the incident.
2. No liability for pollution damage shall attach to
the owner if he proves that the damage:
(a) resulted from an act of war, hostilities, civil
war, insurrection or a natural phenomenon of an exceptional, inevitable and
irresistible character, or
(b) was wholly caused by an
act or omission done with intent to cause damage by a third party, or
(c) was wholly caused by the
negligence or other wrongful act of any Government or other authority
responsible for the maintenance of lights or other navigational aids in the
exercise of that function.
3. If the owner proves that the pollution damage
resulted wholly or partially either from an act or omission done with intent to
cause damage by the person who suffered the damage or from the negligence of
that person, the owner may be exonerated wholly or partially from his liability
to such person.
4. No claim for compensation for pollution damage shall be made against the owner otherwise than in accordance with this Convention. No claim for pollution damage under this Convention or otherwise may be made against the servants or agents of the owner.
5. Nothing in this Convention shall prejudice any
right of recourse of the owner against third parties.
Article IV
When oil has escaped or has been discharged from two
or more ships, and pollution damage results therefrom, the owners of all the
ships concerned, unless exonerated under Article III, shall be jointly and
severally liable for all such damage which is not reasonably separable.
Article V
1. The owner of a ship shall be entitled to limit his
liability under this Convention in respect of any one incident to an aggregate
amount of 2,000 francs for each ton of the ship’s tonnage. However, this
aggregate amount shall not in any event exceed 210 million francs.
2. If the incident occurred as a result of the actual
fault or privity of the owner, he shall not be
entitled to avail himself of the limitation provided in paragraph 1 of this
Article.
The franc mentioned in this Article shall be a unit
consisting of sixty-five and a half milligrams of gold of millesimal fineness
nine hundred. The amount mentioned in paragraph I of this Article shall be
converted into the national currency of the State in which the fund is being
constituted on the basis of the official value of that currency by reference to
the unit defined above on the date of the constitution of the fund.
10. For the purpose of this Article the ship’s tonnage
shall be the net tonnage of the ship with the addition of the amount deducted
from the gross tonnage on account of engine room space for the purpose of
ascertaining the net tonnage. In the case of a ship which cannot be measured in
accordance with the normal rules of tonnage measurement, the ship’s tonnage
shall be deemed to be 40 per cent of the weight in tons (of 2240 lbs) of oil
which the ship is capable of carrying.
A certificate attesting that insurance or other
financial security is in force in accordance with the provisions of this
Convention shall be issued to each ship. It shall be issued or certified by the
appropriate authority of the State of the ships registry after determining that
the requirements of paragraph 1 of this Article have been complied with. This
certificate shall be in the form of the annexed model and shall contain the
following particulars:
(a) name of ship and port of
registration;
(b) name and principal place
of business of owner;
(c) type of security;
(d) name and principal place
of business of insurer or other person giving security and, where appropriate,
place of business where the insurance or security is established;
(e) period of validity of
certificate which shall not be longer than the period of validity of the
insurance or other security.
The certificate shall be carried on board the ship and
a copy shall be deposited with the authorities that keep the record of the
ship’s registry.