2001 Bunker Oil Pollution Convention
The IMO convention that makes the owner of any ship liable for pollution caused by its own fuel oil and requires compulsory insurance for ships above 1,000 gross tonnage.
The CLC covers only oil carried as cargo by tankers. Yet a container ship or bulk carrier holds thousands of tons of heavy fuel oil in its bunkers, whose spill can cause comparable pollution. The Bunker Convention fills that gap: the shipowner, a notion broadly defined to include the bareboat charterer, manager and operator, is liable for pollution damage caused by bunker oil. It creates no limit of its own and refers to the applicable limitation regimes, notably the LLMC Convention. Ships above 1,000 gross tonnage must carry insurance evidenced by a certificate issued by the flag state, upon presentation of a blue card issued by the P&I club, and the victim has a direct action against the insurer.
Adopted at the IMO on March 23, 2001, the convention came into force on November 21, 2008; since then, a 5,000 gross ton bulk carrier calling at a port of a state party must present the corresponding insurance certificate or risk detention.
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