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Title:
Tasman Sea spill case also known Tianjin Oceanic Bureau v. Infinity Shipping and the London Protection and Indemnity Club
Party:
China
Region:
Asia and the Pacific
Type of document:
National - higher court
Date of text:
December 25, 2004
Data source:
InforMEA
Court name:
Tianjin Maritime Court
Seat of court:
Tianjin
Justice(s):
Wu Liqun; Xu Fubin; Dong Lijuan
Reference number:
No. 184 (2003), First Instance, Tianjin Maritime Court [ (2003) 津海法事初字第184号]
ECOLEX subject(s):
Sea
Fisheries
Abstract:

This case concerns the collision between a tanker sailing under a Maltese flag and a Chinese ship triggering an oil spill that lead to an important pollution and damages in the ecosystem of the Bohai Gulf.

The plaintiffs are administrations such as the Tianjin Oceanic Administration, the Tianjin Fisheries and Harbours Office and fishermen associations. They sued the owner of the tanker and its insurer for the ecological damages and the economic loss caused by the oil split.

The Tianjin Maritime Court ruled that under the terms of the 1992 International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, the two defendants had to pay compensation to the defendant for the marine environmental capacity and of fisheries resources.

(Contribution: Case provided by Professor Tianbao QIN, Tang HE, and Han GAO, Research Institute of Environmental Law, Wuhan University, China)