From 16 May 1998, shipowners will require two Civil Liability Convention (CLC) certificates in order to trade planet wide: a single certifying 1969 CLC liabilities, the other 1992 CLC liabilities. This Convention shall supersede any Convention in force or open for signature, ratification or accession at the date on which this Convention is opened for signature, but only to the extent that such Convention would be in conflict with it nonetheless, nothing at all in this short article shall impact the obligation of States Parties not party to this Convention arising below such Convention.
Thus, immediately after reading in a new (but ortodox) light the provison in short article 221, paragraph five, in combination with articles 220, paragraph six and 228 of UNCLOS, the judgment holds that, in case of serious harm to the marine atmosphere, national courts might impose penalties in accordance with their legislation, to give impact to the provisions of the Marpol Convention.
Nonetheless, some nations which originally ratified CLC 69 have but to ratify the 1992 Protocol and therefore the guidelines governing compensation in these countries are distinct (e.g. the compensation limits are decrease, compensation is not offered for damage resulting from spills from unladen tankers, and compensation is only readily available for spills within the territorial waters of a participating nation).
Initially, the Convention sets up an international civil liability scheme operating in between the organic or legal persons impacted whose claims for compensation of pollution harm, if not settled otherwise, must be submitted to the competent national court of the State where the polluting damage occurred or preventive measures have been taken.
However, the 1992 CLC prohibits claims against the servants or agents of the shipowner, the members of the crew, the pilot, the charterer (which includes a bareboat charterer), manager or operator of the ship, or any particular person carrying out salvage operations or taking preventive measures, unless the pollution harm resulted from the private act or omission of the individual concerned, committed with the intent to bring about such harm, or recklessly and with knowledge that such harm would in all probability result.
