Environmental damage claims are often difficult and more contentious. Some countries have implemented statutory methods of assessing damage and compensation and some have adopted the same principles informally and outside the strict operation of law. In other jurisdictions, the assessment of environmental damage is less certain and it is surprisingly difficult to predict which jurisdictions will take an informed approach and which will have unreasonable expectations. P&I insurers, assisted by ITOPF, have unparalleled experience in addressing environmental damage claims across the world, we also have a good understanding of the operation of the International Oil Pollution Fund and the other national and International bodies involved in the assessment and payment of environmental damage claims.
Wreck removal is closely associated with the protection of the environment and is becoming increasingly common and increasingly expensive. In past times, wrecks would generally be left where they lay, sometimes because they were graves but also because they were not an obvious risk to navigation or the environment. Today, wreck removal is becoming more common, even when the wreck represents no realistic risk to anyone
or anything.
International
regulation of wreck removal via the Nairobi Convention is relatively new and relatively untested, but the convention does introduce the concept of reasonableness into removal requirements and efforts. P&I insurers are sometimes responsibility for wreck removal and experience shows that early and respectful liaison with the coastal state may offer material benefits in ensuring that wreck removal orders are limited to reasonable efforts to address identifiable risks.
A useful approach to these operations can be to work closely with local advisors and, where appropriate, employ local contractors, who have a better understanding of just what will satisfy local requirements. Again, P&I insurers have unparalleled experience in addressing wreck removal liabilities, including the ever-increasing range of contracts designed to manage risk.
Finally, P&I insurers can assist owners with fines and penalties arising from the casualty. These can be significant but, as often as not, the scale of any fine will reflect the effectiveness of the response effort quite as much as the risk or danger. This is another area in which an informed, measured and appropriate casualty response has the potential to mitigate the ultimate liabilities.
42 | The Report • December 2017 • Issue 82
Conclusion
The unparalleled flexibility of P&I insurance and the extraordinary resources retained in- house by members of the International Group of P&I Clubs, including our worldwide network of P&I correspondents, means that P&I insurers are uniquely placed to give material assistance to ship owners, other insurers and all other parties involved in marine casualties. This expertise is increasingly delivered though our overseas offices and a developing feature of marine casualty response is that local solutions can often be the best answer to a local problem. Finally and as I hope I have demonstrated, communications are nearly, but not quite, as important as expertise.
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