COUNTRIES which have yet to ratify international conventions providing for compensation against maritime disasters have been urged to do it quickly and not to depend on existing voluntary schemes.
International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation managing director Ian White said the voluntary agreements may be phased out by industry by February 1997 and as a result should not be relied upon much longer.
''Therefore countries should get their house in order and ratify the conventions promptly,'' he said at a seminar organised by the Hongkong Shipowners Association.
He explained that in the case of a maritime disaster, compensation was paid under a two-tiered structure by four international compensation schemes.
They comprised the Civil Liability Convention (CLC); the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, 1971 (Fund Convention); the Tanker Owners' Voluntary Agreement concerning Liability for Oil Pollution (Tovalop); and the Contract Regarding a Supplement to Tanker Liability for Oil Pollution (Cristal).
In the event of an oil spill, the owner would have to pay compensation on a strict liability basis, regardless of whether he was at fault, even though he might be able to get it back through court action later, Mr White said.
This compensation would be paid under Tovalop or under CLC, with money coming from P&I (Protection and Indemnity) Clubs - the third party insurers of tanker owners.
