Marine Liability Act

Marginal note:Liability of Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund

• 101 (1) Subject to the other provisions of this Part, the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund is liable in relation to oil for the matters referred to in sections 51, 71 and 77, Article III of the Civil Liability Convention and Article 3 of the Bunkers Convention in respect of any kind of loss, damage, costs or expenses — including economic loss caused by oil pollution suffered by persons whose property has not been polluted — if

  • (a) all reasonable steps have been taken to recover payment of compensation from the owner of the ship or, in the case of a ship within the meaning of Article I of the Civil Liability Convention, from the International Fund and the Supplementary Fund, and those steps have been unsuccessful;

  • (b) the owner of a ship is not liable by reason of any of the defences described in subsection 77(3), Article III of the Civil Liability Convention or Article 3 of the Bunkers Convention and neither the International Fund nor the Supplementary Fund are liable;

  • (c) the claim exceeds

    • (i) in the case of a ship within the meaning of Article I of the Civil Liability Convention, the owner’s maximum liability under that Convention to the extent that the excess is not recoverable from the International Fund or the Supplementary Fund, and

    • (ii) in the case of any other ship, the owner’s maximum liability under Part 3;

  • (d) the owner is financially incapable of meeting their obligations under section 51 and Article III of the Civil Liability Convention, to the extent that the obligation is not recoverable from the International Fund or the Supplementary Fund;

  • (e) the owner is financially incapable of meeting their obligations under section 71 and Article 3 of the Bunkers Convention;

  • (f) the owner is financially incapable of meeting their obligations under section 77;

  • (g) the cause of the oil pollution damage is unknown and the Administrator has been unable to establish that the occurrence that gave rise to the damage was not caused by a ship; or

  • (h) the Administrator is a party to a settlement under section 109.

• Marginal note:Additional liability of Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund

  (1.1) Subject to the other provisions of this Part, the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund is liable for the costs and expenses incurred by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans or any other person in respect of measures taken under subsection 180(1) of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001 with respect to oil, or for loss or damage caused by those measures, for which neither the owner of a ship, the International Fund nor the Supplementary Fund is liable by reason of the fact that the occurrence or series of occurrences for which those costs and expenses were incurred did not create a grave and imminent threat of causing oil pollution damage.

• Marginal note:Exception — drilling activities

  (2) This Part does not apply to a drilling ship that is on location and engaged in the exploration or exploitation of the seabed or its subsoil in so far as an escape or discharge of oil emanates from those activities.

• Marginal note:Exception — floating storage units

  (3) This Part does not apply to a floating storage unit or floating production, storage and off­loading unit unless it is carrying oil as a cargo on a voyage to or from a port or terminal outside an offshore oil field.