INTRODUCTION
Considerable quantities of many hazardous and
noxious substances (HNS) are carried by sea each year. Whilst
ship safety has always been a priority, accidents will happen,
sometimes with harmful, even fatal, consequences and when that
happens they can prove to be very expensive. Several incidents
involving ships carrying HNS have occurred in recent years, with
many more near misses.
The HNS Convention will allow compensation for
actual damage arising from an HNS incident during its carriage by
sea. It will also provide compensation for costs due to the
incident including response and clean-up costs and economic losses
that are directly attributable to the incident. Ratification and
implementation of the HNS Convention will significantly improve
the likelihood of victims of incidents involving the carriage of
HNS by sea receiving prompt and adequate compensation.
The HNS Fund will make compensation payments by
raising levies on people in States party to the Convention who
import certain quantities of HNS. This workshop will explain
what substances are classified as
"HNS" and who, under the Convention, will be liable to pay levies.
In many cases it is any person in a State party who receives HNS
after carriage by sea in quantities exceeding a certain annual
threshold. There are exceptions (owners of Liquid Natural Gas
cargoes prior to discharge are liable), and the thresholds are
different for different substances. Ratification and
implementation of the HNS Convention will therefore have a
considerable impact on industries involved in the importation of
hazardous and noxious substances.
Shipowners of vessels carrying
HNS will also be affected.
Shipowners of any vessels carrying HNS entering or leaving port of
States Party to the Convention will be required to have insurance
to cover their limit of liability and will need to demonstrate
this by a compulsory insurance certificate. This applies to
all vessels, regardless of where they are registered.
The HNS Convention covers not
only pollution or property damage but also includes death and
personal injury for incidents involving chemicals, LNG, LPG and
Oil (where not covered by other conventions e.g. IOPC Fund/ CLC).
You therefore need to understand
that this DOES affect you and equally important –
HOW it affects you.
This one day Workshop aims at dispelling the myth
that the HNS Convention is still negotiable or that if we ignore
it, it might go away.
The EU States are required to bring the HNS
Convention into force by June 2006 (European Council Decision
2002/971/EC of November 18, 2002) and it is anticipated that this
will bring the Convention into force worldwide soon thereafter,
and you should therefore urgently start thinking about what this
means to you NOW.
The issue of contributing product identification
is paramount to ensure incidents involving these substances are
properly recorded and that compensation is available.
Of equal importance is the need to clarify the
definition of Receiver. You should be in no doubt that if you
are the Receiver of an HNS product you have a LIABILITY
to contribute to the scheme. The total amount including shipowners
liability could be as high as 250m SDRs per HNS incident.
Your Governments are about to
make HNS law – THERE IS NO ESCAPE
-
Sitting on the fence is not an
option
-
Burying your head in the sand
is not an option
-
Attending this Workshop is an
option but to miss it might be a serious mistake which will only
become obvious after 2006
CAN
YOU AFFORD TO TAKE THE CHANCE?
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Consider the following
statements:
-
I don’t know about
this Convention
-
I don’t understand
why it affects me
-
I don’t understand
how it affects me
-
I don’t know what a
“receiver” is
-
I don’t know what
contributing products or cargoes are involved
-
I don’t know what my
exposure is
-
I don’t know what my
liability is
-
Is it still up for
discussion?
-
Can it be changed?
-
I am not concerned
because my persistent oil is already covered by IOPC regime.
If you
can relate to any of the above then attendance is a must
This Workshop
is aimed at:
-
Carriers and
receivers of
bulk oil
whether
persistent on non persistent
-
Carriers and
receivers
of
bulk
chemicals
-
Carriers and
receivers
of
bulk
LPG
-
Carriers and receivers
of
bulk LNG
-
Carriers and
receivers
of packaged goods
-
Insurers
-
Lawyers
-
Governments
Conference Chair:
Mr John Wren
Head of Branch, Shipping Policy
Department for Transport, United Kingdom
We are looking forward to welcoming you to
Barcelona,
Nathalie Soisson
Transport Safety Group Coordinator
Total |
Jannis Kostoulas
Managing Director
Mare Forum |
Paul Markides
Director
Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) |
 |
 |
 |
The
Programme
INFORMATION:
MARE FORUM
Beurs - World Trade Center
P.O. Box 30027
3001 DA Rotterdam
The Netherlands
