Informal lunch meeting for States from the Middle East and surrounding region

On 17 December 2014, the Director of the IOPC Funds hosted an informal lunch meeting for the UK-based representatives of States from the Middle East and surrounding regions.
This small informal meeting was attended by representatives from both Member and non-Member States and provided an opportunity for those attending to ask questions and to exchange their views on various subjects such as the running of Funds’ meetings, oil reporting, the contributions system, incidents and claims handling and the status of the HNS Convention.
In a welcoming statement, the Director was pleased to note that all of the States represented at the lunch were covered by the 1992 Civil Liability Convention and reminded those present that the purpose of the regime was to protect victims in the event of an incident affecting a Member State. He pointed out that, although the Civil Liability Convention was a good starting point, it may not be sufficient for larger spills, and some smaller spills, when the amount of compensation claimed goes beyond the shipowner’s limit. He offered the assistance of the Secretariat to any of the States requiring additional support or further information on any aspect of the international compensation regime.
Guests were reminded that the next meetings of the IOPC Funds governing bodies would take place during the week of 20 April 2015 and that the agenda and invitation would be issued in January 2015. He also drew attention to some issues which would be discussed at the forthcoming sessions such as the draft publication texts on Clean-up and Preventive Measures, Fishery Restrictions and Environmental Damage and the seventh intersessional Working Group on definition of ‘ship’.
The next regional lunch meeting is planned to be take place in early summer 2015.