Marine Honour – Information for claimants

The Incident

On 14 June 2024, the Netherlands-flagged dredging ship Vox Maxima struck a stationary Singapore-flagged bunker vessel Marine Honour at Pasir Panjang shipping terminal, resulting in an oil spill from one of the latter’s cargo tanks. The incident has caused pollution damage to the affected areas and is likely to result in claims for compensation, exceeding the limit of liability of the shipowner under the 1992 Civil Liability Convention (1992 CLC).
Singapore is Party to both the 1992 CLC and the 1992 Fund Convention. It has been confirmed that the oil from the vessel is persistent and that the Marine Honour falls within the definition of ‘ship’ under the 1992 Conventions. Therefore, both the 1992 CLC and Fund Convention apply to this incident.

To view the full incident case study please click here.

Compensation and Claims Management

The IOPC Funds pay compensation to those who have suffered oil pollution damage in a Member State who cannot obtain full compensation for the pollution damage from the shipowner. Claimants may be individuals, partnerships, companies, private organisations or public bodies, including States or local authorities.

Who can claim?

Admissibility of claims for compensation

To be entitled to compensation the pollution damage must have resulted in an actual and quantifiable economic loss. The claimant must be able to show the amount of their loss or damage by producing accounting records or other appropriate evidence.

For this incident, specific claim forms for each of the following types of claim can be downloaded below:

• Property damage
• Costs of clean-up operations
• Economic losses – Fisheries, maricultural and processing sector 
• Economic losses -Tourism 
• Other losses, including claims for environmental damage

Claims are assessed according to criteria established by the governments of Member States. These criteria are set out in the 1992 Fund’s Claims Manual, which is a practical guide on how to present claims for compensation.  Sector-specific guidelines for claimants are also available in English, French and Spanish via the publications section.

Contact information for claimants

To facilitate the claims process in this incident, the IOPC Funds and the insurer of the vessel, British Marine, a QBE brand, have established a Claims Submission Office (CSO) in Singapore, to which claims may be submitted. Any correspondence or questions, should be addressed to the CSO below:

Marine Honour Claims Submission Office
100 Pasir Panjang Road,
#07-07,
Singapore 118518
Tel: +65 9632 3868/+65 9018 3030
Email: claims.marinehonour@iopcfundsclaims.org

How to submit a claim

Claims should be submitted either directly to the IOPC Funds in London or through the CSO above.

Claimants should submit their claims in writing (including e-mail) using the specific claims forms which have been provided to the CSO and which may be requested from the office.  Claims should provide sufficient information and supporting documentation to enable the damage to be assessed. Each item of a claim must be substantiated by invoices or other relevant documentation, such as work sheets, explanatory notes, accounts and photographs. It is the responsibility of claimants to submit evidence to support their claims. It is important that the documentation is complete and accurate. A brief step by step guide in English can be found here.

 When to submit a claim

Claims should be submitted as soon as possible and, in any event, no later than three years from the date when the damage occurred.

Further information

For further information please contact the IOPC Funds directly.