Hebei Spirit: 1992 Fund begins to pay compensation

The Hebei Spirit incident (7 December 2007) affected the three southerly provinces on the west coast of the Republic of Korea and led to 128 000 claims for compensation being submitted, the highest number ever dealt with by the 1992 Fund.
Since the insurer of the Hebei Spirit, the Skuld Club, reached its limit of liability under the 1992 Civil Liability Convention in June 2015, having paid 89.77 million SDR (KRW 186.8 billion or £103 million) in compensation, the 1992 Fund has now begun paying compensation in respect of the outstanding valid claims. The 1992 Fund will continue to make payments up to the maximum amount available under the 1992 Fund Convention, of 203 million SDR (KRW 321 billion or £176 million).
In June 2008 the 1992 Fund Executive Committee decided, in view of the uncertainty as to the total amount of the admissible claims, to set the level of payments at 35% of the established claims. This has been reviewed at each meeting of the Executive Committee but maintained ever since. At its next session in October 2015 the 1992 Fund Executive Committee will consider whether it is now possible to increase this level of payments.
The Director is pleased that the 1992 Fund can now pay compensation to the Korean Government, reimbursing it for the payments already made to the victims of the incident and thanked the Republic of Korea for its cooperation over the past eight years since the incident occurred.
For background information and further details regarding the Hebei Spirit incident, please visit the Incident section.