Members Handbook 2002 - Centre d'Investigació i ...

Supplementary Fund is financed bycontributions payable by oil receiversin the States which ratify this newinstrument. However, for the purposeof contributions it will be consideredthat there is a minimum aggregatequantity of 1 million tonnes ofcontributing oil received in eachMember State of the SupplementaryFund.To ease the burden on oil receivers, avoluntary agreement has been reachedamongst owners of small tankers tointroduce the Small Tanker Oil PollutionIndemnification Agreement (STOPIA).Under the terms of STOPIA the liabilityin respect of incidents involving tankersup to 29,548 GT is increased to20 million SDR – about $30 million.STOPIA applies to incidents in Statesparty to the Supplementary Fund witheffect from 3 March 2005.Claims HandlingP&I Clubs and the 1992 Fund cooperateclosely in the assessment andsettlement of claims, usually using jointexperts such as ITOPF. In the event of amajor incident a local claims office isusually established to assist potentialclaimants and to facilitate thesubmission of claims.Compensation LimitsThe liability of tanker owners under the1992 CLC ranges from 4.5 millionSpecial Drawing Rights (SDR) - aboutUS$ 6.8 million - for a small tanker (upto 5,000 gross tons) to 90 million SDR- about US$ 137 million - for a tankerof 140,000 or more gross tons.A maximum of 203 million SDR - aboutUS$ 309 million - is available perincident from the 1992 Fund,irrespective of the size of the tanker (this28