Oil spill India 2018

Oil Spill India, an international conference and exhibition focussing on oil spill prevention, preparedness, and response, took place on 5 and 6 July 2018 in Delhi, India. The IOPC Funds was pleased to be a strategic partner for this event, which is supported by the oil industry and the Ministry of Shipping of India.
The Director, José Maura, was invited to speak during the opening plenary and also chaired a session on Conventions, Claims & Compensation, during which Head of External Relations and Conference, Thomas Liebert, presented on recent developments involving the IOPC Funds, followed by other speakers discussing other key elements relating to claims and compensation.
At the closing of the conference, the Director expressed the view that India should consider acceding to the Supplementary Fund Protocol as well as the Bunkers and HNS Conventions in order to protect the country, which is facing increasing risks of ship-source pollution, against the potential consequences of incidents.
The event provided an opportunity for the IOPC Funds to increase awareness among India stakeholders about the work of the organisation and the international liability and compensation regime in general. The IOPC Funds had a stand at the exhibition which it shared with the International Group of P&I Associations. The exhibition provided both organisations with the opportunity to meet directly with potential future claimants and other stakeholders and to clarify any questions that they may have had.
India has seen a considerable increase in its oil consumption and in its refining business in recent years, becoming the largest contributor to the IOPC Funds in 2017, now with over 218 million tonnes of oil imports reported in that year. Given this transport activity and its geographical location, India is at high risk of suffering an oil spill and the Director emphasised this point both during his presentation at OSI 2018 and also in key meetings he held with the Directorate General of Shipping in Mumbai and with Gopal Krishna, the Secretary of Shipping, in Delhi prior to the event. The opportunity was also taken to meet with representatives of the main contributors to the Funds in the country.