Maritime Lawyers

The International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage

The International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage (henceforth, FUND) was created in 1971. In 1992, there was an amendment session that addressed the growing amount of oil that could be spilt by the much larger ships of the 1990s than those of the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1969, there was a Convention that allowed for civil liability when an oil spill occurred. Many states were not happy with this as it placed complete liability on the ship owner and nothing on the states themselves so the IMO met again in 1971 to create a Convention that addressed more of the legal and fiscal issues involved in oil clean up than did the 1969 Convention. The FUND entered into effect in 1978 and was replaced in 1992 by a new protocol.

The intent of the FUND Convention is a) to provide compensation for pollution damage to the extent that the protection by the 1969 Civil Liability Convention (CLC) is inadequate; b) to give relief to ship owners in respect of the additional financial burden imposed on them by the 1969 CLC; and c) to give effect to any related purposes in the convention.

The first provision of the FUND allows states or people affected by an oil spill to receive payment for damages if the funds cannot be extracted from the coffers of the ship owner or if the compensation given from the ship owner that leaked its oil is not sufficient to cover the damages incurred.

Despite this provision, the FUND’s ability to pay out compensation is limited to people who live in areas whose waterways are subject to the IMO’s conventions. Basically, a country needs to be part of the United Nations for its people to take advantage of the FUND if an oil spill occurs and damages their beach or fishing population.

If you or someone you know has been injured while at sea, there may be legal options available to you. Contact the Maritime Lawyers of Williams Kherkher at 1-800-220-9341 to discuss your legal options and to schedule an initial consultation.