IOPC Funds (International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds)
Intergovernmental organizations that compensate oil spill victims beyond the shipowner's limit, funded by contributions from companies that receive oil by sea.
The IOPC Funds form the second and third tiers of the international compensation regime for tanker oil spills. The 1992 Fund steps in when a victim cannot obtain full compensation under the CLC, because the damage exceeds the owner's limit, the owner is exempt, or the owner is insolvent. It is financed not by shipowners but by persons who receive in a member state more than 150,000 tons a year of crude or heavy fuel oil carried by sea, in proportion to the quantities received. The optional 2003 Supplementary Fund raises the overall ceiling per incident. The system thus shares the burden of an oil spill between the ship, through its P&I club, and the cargo, through the oil industry. When claims exceed the ceiling, payments are prorated, which makes the timing and rigor of claims decisive for victims.
Created after the sinking of the Erika in 1999 and the Prestige off Galicia in November 2002, the 2003 Supplementary Fund, in force since March 3, 2005, raises to 750 million SDR the total compensation available per incident in the states that join it.
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