Compensation for oil-spill damage

A proposal given by Jose Maura, Director of the International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) Funds, for Bangladesh to become a member of the compensatory body should be considered quite a generous offer. Reportedly, there is no financial involvement for the country to join the Funds. To its benefit, the country will be entitled to compensation in case of future oil spill caused by tanker disaster. That the proposal is under active consideration of the government is good news. The authorities have taken cognisance of the rising incidence of accidents involving oil-carrying vessels in its rivers and sea areas.
However, on its part Bangladesh will have to become a signatory to the 1992 Civil Liability and the 1992 Fund Conventions before becoming a claimant to compensation from the IOPC Funds. Through the signing of the documents, the country will ratify both conventions and be entitled to compensations depending on the nature and extent of spillage of oil from a ship or a tanker. Now, the reason why the director of the IOPC Funds has made the offer unsolicited lies in the sinking of a tanker in the Shela River that has affected the Sunderbans, the world's largest mangrove. The spillage of 350,000 litres of furnace oil made news worldwide because of the extensive damage it caused to the flora and fauna of the mangrove forest. A study by the Khulna University has found significant reduction in primary marine food producers like phytoplankton and zooplankton in the river waters there as a result of the spillage impact.
In a situation like this the owner of the tanker is liable to pay compensation up to a certain limit. Whether the laws of the land make it mandatory for the owners of vessels to pay such compensations or not, once the liability conventions are ratified by a member state, it is entitled to certain amount of compensation from the Funds. Funds thus obtained can be used for taking care of the damages caused by oil spill. Also the clean-up operation can be geared up if the fund is readily available. Even if the authorities know that a substantial amount will be available, it can start any such operation without getting worried over the source of finance.
No one wants such oil tanker disasters to happen in one's wildest imagination. But the reality is that possibility of such accidents cannot be ruled out. As long as fossil fuel will be used for automobiles and industries, it has to be transported by vessels on seas and rivers. Since the 1992 fund is financed by levies paid by entities which receive after transportation on sea routes, all the countries importing such fuel ought to be legitimate claimants to compensations in case of such environmental pollution. All a country need is to complete the formalities which, as the IOPC Funds director gives the impression, are unlikely to be very complicated. It is therefore in the interest of Bangladesh, the formalities should be completed with due urgency.