§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the undertaking given in the House of Commons by the Minister for Aviation and Shipping to the Member for South Hams, in relation to the recent oil spill south of Start Point, ("I give him a total assurance that the cost of the clean-up operation will be met entirely by the polluter. There is insurance cover on the tanker") implies that they have withdrawn, or intend to withdraw, from the various international Conventions that strictly limit the liability of "polluters" of the sea, whether by oil, or by other more or less hazardous substances, and whether they will now insist on full insurance cover for all kinds of pollution by ships, whatever their flag.
§ Viscount DavidsonNo such implication should be drawn. The United Kingdom remains a party to the 1969 Civil Liability and 1971 International Fund Conventions, which provide compensation following oil pollution incidents. In the case of the1504WA Rosebay the shipowner is strictly liable under the 1969 convention to a limit of some £8 million, based on the ship's tonnage, and has to have compulsory insurance cover for that amount. Claims following the incident are unlikely to exceed £8 million but if they do, additional compensation of about £38 million is available from the international fund established under the 1971 Convention providing a maximum of £46 million. We are pressing for enhancement of the 1969 and 1971 conventions through international adoption of the protocols to the conventions agreed in 1984. We are also actively engaged in discussions in the International Maritime Organisation to develop a similar compensation system for all other forms of pollution from ships.