THE SHARING OF THE FINANCIAL BURDEN BETWEENTHE SHIPPIING AND OIL INDUSTRIES UNDER THEINTERNATIONAL COMPENSATION REGIMES

摘要

The international regime on liability and compensation for oilrnpollution damage is based on international Conventions adoptedrnunder the auspices of the International Maritime Organizationrn(IMO). When the international compensation Conventions werernfirst elaborated over thirty years ago in the aftermath of the TorreyrnCanyon incident, it was decided to establish a two-tier systemrnwhereby the economic consequences of marine oil spills fromrntankers should be shared between the shipping industry and thosernindustries who either owned or received the cargoes transportedrnby sea. Although the limits of liability and compensation under thernConventions have been revised from time to time, the concept ofrnsharing has been maintained.rnIn 2004 the Secretariat of the International Oil Pollution CompensationrnFunds undertook a study of the costs of oil spills fromrntankers worldwide, except the United States, over the past 25rnyears. The purpose of the study was to examine the extent to whichrnthe economic consequences of oil spills had been shared by thernshipping and oil sectors under the Conventions as envisaged whenrnthey were elaborated and under the voluntary industry schemesrnwhich coexisted and interacted with the Conventions for much ofrnthat time. The results of the study and their impact on any futurernrevisions of the international Conventions, particularly as regardsrnthe sharing of the financial burden, are the subject of this paper.