Marine Honour incident – IOPC Funds’ Director visits Singapore

IOPC Funds’ Director, Mr Gaute Sivertsen, Claims Manager, Mr Ali Kielany, and Information Officer, Mr Raymond Bayor travelled to Singapore from 16 to 20 September and held meetings with officials and stakeholders involved in the Marine Honour oil pollution incident.

Singapore is Party to both the 1992 Civil Liability Convention and the 1992 Fund Convention, and the IOPC Funds has worked closely with the liability insurer of the Marine Honour, British Marine (a QBE brand), following the incident. As a result of this cooperation, the two have established a joint Claims Submission Office (CSO) to facilitate the submission of claims for compensation by persons and entities affected by the oil spill.

During the visit, the team met with officials of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, British Marine and the joint CSO. They also met with representatives of ITOPF, who led the team to attend the sites impacted by the pollution. The Director was pleased to learn that clean-up operations were completed ahead of schedule.

Throughout the team’s engagements in Singapore, Mr Sivertsen expressed his appreciation to all stakeholders for their cooperation with the IOPC Funds. He reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to supporting the submission of claims and to ensuring that all eligible claimants receive prompt compensation.

While in Singapore, the Director took the opportunity to meet with the insurers of MT Princess Empress and MT Terra Nova —the Shipowners’ P&I Club and Steamship Mutual, respectively—both of which were involved in oil pollution incidents in the Philippines.

Further information regarding the latest developments in the Marine Honour incident is available here.

The most recent developments will be reported at the next session of the 1992 Fund Executive Committee, scheduled for 5 to 8 November 2024.