Upcoming events

The IOPC Funds have been invited to attend CMI’s 2022 Assembly and Conference in Antwerp, Belgium, from 18–21 October 2022. It will be a particularly memorable occasion as the event will coincide with CMI’s 125th anniversary.

The event will begin with a two-day conference organised jointly by the CMI and the Belgian Maritime Law Association, and will include a welcome reception for delegates and partners, meetings of the International Working Groups and Standing Committees, where recent work of the CMI will be reviewed and showcased.

Following the conference, the programme for the Assembly will consist of lectures, sessions on maritime law issues, a plenary to approve the new General Average Guidelines (and security wordings), as well as a traditional gala dinner and farewell reception.

As a CMI consultative member, the IOPC Funds look forward to participating in what promises to be a memorable celebration and event.

The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) is running a two-day Sub-regional workshop in Tunisia, from 18 to 19 October.

The IOPC Funds in collaboration with the International Group of P&I Associations and ITOPF, have been invited to present on the international liability and compensation regime for oil and HNS pollution damage. Focus will be given to the different types of claims that could be admissible under the 1992 Fund Conventions.

The workshop will be an opportunity to build on the recent experience gained by Tunisia following the sinking of the ‘Xelo’ tanker that occured in the Gulf of Gabes, in April 2022, but for which the 1992 Fund Convention did not apply.

The IOPC Funds will run an induction course for representatives of 1992 Fund Member States on the afternoon of Monday 24 October 2022, at the Funds’ headquarters in London. The induction course was developed in response to a continued demand from Member States to provide meeting delegates with a better understanding of the functioning of the organisation and the interaction between a Member State and the IOPC Funds in the event of an oil spill.

Before the course there will be a light lunch and networking session to give participants an opportunity to ask the Secretariat questions and to discuss any areas of particular interest that they would like to hear about during the course.

The course is open to all interested delegates; however, it is designed to particularly benefit those who are either new to the IOPC Funds or have little prior knowledge of the organisation.

See circular IOPC/2022/Circ.5 for more information and details on how to register.

The next regular meeting of the IOPC Funds governing bodies is set to take place in person the week commencing 24 October 2022. A circular containing the invitation and provisional agenda will be issued nearer the time. Further information can be found here.

A workshop aimed at assisting States in their work towards ratification of the 2010 HNS Protocol is set to take place at the International Maritime Organization on 31 October and 1 November 2022.

To facilitate participation, the workshop, which is being organised by Canada in cooperation with the Secretariats of IMO and the IOPC Funds, will be held the week directly following the meetings of the IOPC Funds (25 to 28 October 2022), and before the 106th session of the Maritime Safety Committee (2 to 11 November 2022).

The draft programme, provisional timetable for the workshop and registration details can be found in IMO Circular Letter No.4620.

The IOPC Funds have been invited to participate in a four-day Biannual Regional GI WACAF Conference on spill preparedness and response in Accra, Ghana, from 7 to 10 November 2022.

The Conference is aimed at 22 West, Central and Southern African countries.  The IOPC Funds will present on the admissibility of claims for compensation and will be part of a panel of international experts to assist countries in identifying priorities to strengthen their response plan to a spill.

GI WACAF is a joint project between IMO and IPIECA (global oil and gas industry association) to prepare African countries to improve their level of preparedness and response to oil spills.  http://www.giwacaf.net/