Oil Pollution of the Sea (Civil Liability and Compensation) Act, 1988

Extent of liability of Fund.

21.—(1) Where the Fund incurs a liability under this Act by reason of a discharge of oil which causes pollution damage in the territory of the State, the aggregate amount of compensation payable in respect of any one incident shall not exceed sixty million units of account.

(2) Where the Fund in accordance with section 20 (6) indemnifies the owner of a ship or his guarantor, any such indemnity shall not exceed that part of such owner's, or his guarantor's, liability under this Act which is—

(a) in excess of an amount equivalent to one hundred units of account for each ton of the ship's tonnage, or of a total amount of eight million, three hundred and thirty-three thousand units of account, whichever is the lesser, and

(b) not in excess of an amount equivalent to one hundred and thirty-three units of account for each ton of the said tonnage or a total amount of fourteen million units of account, whichever is the lesser.

(3) For the purposes of this section “the aggregate amount of compensation” means the maximum amount of compensation payable by the Fund by reason of pollution damage occasioned by any one incident whether such compensation is payable by reason of any one or more of the following, that is to say—

(a) the provisions of this Act,

(b) the provisions of any law in any Convention Country, or

(c) the provisions of the Fund Convention.

(4) Where the total of all claims against the Fund in any particular case exceeds the aggregate amount of compensation payable under subsection (1), the aggregate amount of compensation shall be distributed amongst all claimants for compensation in such a manner that the proportion between any claim and the amount of compensation recovered in respect of that claim shall be the same for all claimants.

(5) Subject to the provisions of subsection (2), the Fund shall, in respect of any amount of compensation for pollution damage paid by the Fund under this Act, acquire by subrogation any rights that the person so compensated may enjoy under this Act against the owner of a ship or his guarantor.