3 The IMO: Liability, Compensation, and Global Ocean Governance

This chapter analyses those International Maritime Organization (IMO) conventions which establish liability and compensation regimes for pollution damage from ships. The International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (CLC) and the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage (IOPC), which together deal with pollution from oil tankers, have been in place for many years. The system is administered by an international organization, the IOPC Funds, expressly established for this purpose. Their activities are overseen by the Funds’ Assemblies. Over the years the Funds, working with the International Group of Professional and Indemnity (P&I) Clubs, have developed procedures to facilitate the assessment of damages in major incidents giving rise to a large number of claims, often for relatively small amounts and in circumstances where claimants are unable to prove their losses.