International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (CLC), 1969
 

Adoption: 29 November 1969, Entry into force: 19 June 1975
 

The merchant shipping (civil liability and compensation for oil pollution) act 1998 of Singapore

bullet The Civil Liability Convention was adopted to ensure that adequate compensation is available to persons who suffer oil pollution damage resulting from maritime casualties involving oil-carrying ships.
bullet The Convention places the liability for such damage on the owner of the ship from which the polluting oil escaped or was discharged.
bullet Subject to a number of specific exceptions, this liability is strict; it is the duty of the owner to prove in each case that any of the exceptions should in fact operate.
bullet The Convention requires ships covered by it to maintain insurance or other financial security in sums equivalent to the owner's total liability for one incident.
bullet The Convention applies to all seagoing vessels actually carrying oil in bulk as cargo, but only ships carrying more than 2,000 tons of oil are required to maintain insurance in respect of oil pollution damage.

 

bullet The owner of a ship shall be entitled to limit his liability as follows:
bullet For a ship not exceeding 5,000 gross tonnage, liability is limited to 4.51 million SDR (US$5.78 million)
bullet For a ship 5,000 to 140,000 gross tonnage: liability is limited to 4.51 million SDR (US$5.78 million) plus 631 SDR (US$807) for each additional gross tonne over 5,000.
bullet For a ship over 140,000 gross tonnage: liability is limited to 89.77 million SDR (US$115 million)

 
bullet No liability for pollution damage shall attach to the owner if he proves that the damage:
bullet Resulted from an act of war, hostilities, civil war, insurrection or a natural phenomenon of an exceptional, inevitable and irresistible character, or
bullet Was wholly caused by an act or omission done with intent to cause damage by a third party, or
bullet 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.

 
bullet No claim for compensation for pollution damage under this Convention or otherwise may be made against:
bullet The servants or agents of the owner or the members of the crew;
bullet The pilot or any other person who, without being a member of the crew, performs services for the ship;
bullet Any charterer (howsoever described, including a bareboat charterer), manager or operator of the ship;
bullet Any person performing salvage operations with the consent of the owner or on the instructions of a competent public authority;
bullet Any person taking preventive measures;
bullet All servants or agents of persons mentioned in subparagraphs (c), (d) and (e); unless the damage resulted from their personal act or omission, committed with the intent to cause such damage, or recklessly and with knowledge that such damage would probably result.
 
bullet When an incident involving two or more ships occurs 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.

 

CLC certificate (Article-VII)

bullet The owner of a ship carrying more than 2,000 tons of oil in bulk as cargo shall be required to maintain insurance or other financial security, such as the guarantee of a bank or a certificate delivered by an international compensation fund, in the sums fixed by applying the limits of liability as per Article V.
bullet A certificate attesting that insurance or other financial security is in force shall be issued to each ship by the appropriate authority of the State of the ship’s registry. This certificate shall be in the form of the annexed model and shall contain the following particulars:
bullet Name of ship and port of registration;
bullet Name and principal place of business of owner;
bullet Type of security;
bullet 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;
bullet Period of validity of certificate which shall not be longer than the period of validity of the insurance or other security.
bullet The certificate shall be carried on board the ship.
bullet The State of registry shall, subject to the provisions of this Article, determine the conditions of issue and validity of the certificate.


 

Source: CLC convention-1992, 2005 edition., IMO website, Shipping circular-10 of 1998

             

 

Updated: 11-Oct-2007