Page 125 - claims information pack ebook_e

Guidelines for presenting claims for clean up and preventive measures

Salvage operations of volunteers who establish cleaning stations
5.27 Salvage operations may in some cases close to the spill location. Cleaning is often
include an element of preventive measures. difficult and slow and can cause the animals
If the primary purpose of such operations is to further distress, and should only be undertaken
prevent pollution damage, the costs incurred if there is a reasonable chance of the animals
would, in principle, qualify for compensation surviving the process. Claims for reasonable
under the 1992 Conventions. However, if costs associated with the provision of local
salvage operations have another purpose, reception facilities appropriate to the scale of
such as saving the ship and/or the cargo, the the problem, materials, medication and food
costs incurred are not accepted under the are normally compensable, as are reasonable
Conventions. If the operations are undertaken food and accommodation costs of workers,
for the purpose of both preventing pollution including volunteers. If several special interest
and saving the ship and/or the cargo, but it is groups undertake cleaning and rehabilitation
not possible to establish with any certainty the activities these should be properly coordinated
primary purpose, the costs are apportioned to avoid duplication of effort. Deductions will
20 between pollution prevention and salvage. be made for funds raised from the public for
The assessment of claims for the costs of the specific purpose of maintaining the field
preventive measures associated with salvage operations for a particular incident.
is not made on the basis of the criteria applied
for determining salvage awards, but is instead Administrative costs
limited to the cost of the work, including 5.30 Reasonable administrative costs are accepted
a reasonable element of profit. to cover areas of work, which cannot easily be
Removal of oil from sunken tankers identified individually but are closely related
to clean-up operations, i.e. not remote costs.
5.28 Whether the costs of removing any remaining Different names are sometimes used for
oil from a sunken tanker would be accepted as claims covering this type of cost, such as
reasonable is determined on a case-by-case management fee, general expenses or general
basis, taking into account a number of factors overheads. Examples of the types of costs
which are set out in detail in the Claims covered under this heading might include a
Manual. The first step is normally to measure bookkeeper, stationary, copying, computing
the quantity of oil remaining on board a costs, communication charges and office
sunken ship, providing this can be done with service fees, that is, the general costs of
minimal risk of causing further pollution. Other running a business or organisation for the
factors which would be considered include the period of the operation.
situation and condition of the sunken tanker;
the risk of oil being lost during the removal 5.31 Administrative costs are usually expressed
operation; the feasibility of successful removal as a percentage of the claim. However,
and the cost, especially compared to the likely levels much in excess of 5% would not be
pollution damage which would result if the oil accepted as a percentage and the 1992 Fund
was left in place in the sunken ship. may ask for detailed information for the
Cleaning and rehabilitation individual costs. Correspondingly, if individual
of oiled wildlife administrative costs such as those given
as examples above were to be included as
5.29 The capture, cleaning and rehabilitation of individual items within the claim, it would be
oiled wildlife requires trained personnel and anticipated that administrative costs would be
the work is normally carried out by special reduced proportionately or not appear at all.
interest groups, usually with the assistance In very high value claims, administrative costs