Liability for Oil Pollution Damage

Civil Liability Certificates for seagoing vessels under the International Convention
on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution of 2001 (Bunkers Convention)

Legal basis

• International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution of 2001 (Bunkers Convention)
• Act to amend the Oil Pollution Damage Act and other shipping regulations (ÖlSGuaÄndG)
• Act on liability and compensation for oil pollution damage caused by seagoing vessels (Ölschadengesetz (ÖlSG) - Oil Pollution Damage Act)
• Ordinance on the issuance of certificates under the Oil Pollution Damage Act (Ölhaftungsbescheinigungs -Verordnung (ÖlHaftBeschV))

General information

The International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage of 2001 (Bunkers Convention) entered into force on 21 November 2008.
Under the Bunkers Convention, shipowners (owners including registered owners, bareboat charterers, managers and operators) are liable for pollution damage caused by any bunker oil on board or originating from the ship. 

The registered owner of a ship having a gross tonnage greater than 1000 registered in a State Party is required to maintain insurance or other financial security, such as the guarantee of a bank or similar financial institution, to cover the liability of the registered owner for pollution damage in an amount equal to the limits of liability under the applicable national or international limitation regime, but in all cases not exceeding an amount calculated in accordance with the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, 1976, as amended.

Ships having a gross tonnage greater than 1000 which are registered in a non-State Party are also subject to the above provisions when entering or leaving a port in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany or a terminal in the territorial sea or operating in the area covered by the Oil Pollution Damage Act. This also includes ships in transit traffic.

The Civil Liability Certificate under the Bunkers Convention (CLBC) must be carried on board at all times.

Responsibility of the BSH

Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH, Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency) issues Civil Liability Certificates to ships flying the German flag and to ships which, though listed in a German shipping register, temporarily fly the flag of a state that is not party to the Bunkers Convention.

Also ships operating in an area covered by the Ölschadengesetz (Oil Pollution Damage Act) which are neither listed in the shipping register of a State Party nor fly the flag of a State Party are issued with Civil Liability Certificates by the BSH, unless such ships have already been issued with a Civil Liability Certificate by another State Party.

Ships listed in the German shipping register which temporarily fly the flag of another State Party to the Bunkers Convention, in accordance with Art. 7, Law of the Flag Act, require a Civil Liability Certificate issued by the state of the ship’s registry, in compliance with the Bunkers Convention and Ölschadengesetz (Oil Pollution Damage Act).

In this connection, the General Assembly of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), in December 2009, aware of differences of opinion at the international level concerning states‘ responsibility for issuing Civil Liability Certificates to bareboat registered vessels, adopted IMO Resolution A.1028(26) – Issuing of Bunker Certificates to Bareboat-Registered Vessels – for practical reasons. On this basis, the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development recommends that applications for the issue of Civil Liability Certificates under the Bunkers Convention should be submitted to the appropriate Flag State authority, provided that the Flag State is a State Party to the Bunkers Convention. If a shipping company, contrary to this recommendation, submits an application for the issue of a Civil Liability Certificate to the BSH, it will be issued with the certificate under the provisions of Art. 7, para. 2, Bunkers Convention, in connection with Art. 2, Ölschadengesetz (Oil Pollution Damage Act), provided that also the substantive requirements are met.

According to the IMO Resolution, the States Parties should not request more than one Civil Liability Certificate for a particular vessel and, under Art. 7, para. 9, Bunkers Convention, Civil Liability Certificates issued by another State Party should be accepted.

IMO RESOLUTION A.1028(26) (PDF, 393 KB)

Application for a certificate

To obtain a Civil Liability Certificate under the Bunkers Convention (CLCBC) from the BSH, a written application in German or English has to be submitted. In case the language of the application or of any of the documents enclosed with the application is neither German nor English, a translation by an officially certified translator has to be enclosed with the application.

Applications are not allowed to be submitted in electronic format.
Please use current forms for your application.
The application shall contain the following particulars:

• name of ship,name of ship as shown in the insurance documents (e.g. Blue Card),
• distinctive number or letters and port of registry;
• IMO ship identification number,
• name of the registered owner,
• address of the principal place of business of the registered owner incl. telephone number and, if available, fax number,
• type and duration of the insurance or other financial security

The application form for a Civil Liability Certificate under the Bunkers Convention (CLBC) incl. pertinent queries is available here. (PDF, 87 KB)
The information leaflet on the submission of an application for the issue of a Civil Liability Certificate under the Bunkers Convention is available here. (PDF, 25 KB)

The following documents have to be enclosed with the application:

• statement by the provider of security that
• the security is in compliance with the Bunkers Convention, and
• early termination or modification of the security causing non-compliance with the requirements shall not become effective vis-à-vis third parties before three months have elapsed from the date on which notice of its termination or modification is given to Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie.
  It is irrelevant to what authority the insurance certificate has been addressed.
• documentation of the ship's tonnage,
• an authorisation to submit applications if a person other than the registered owner submits the application. A form authorising a person to submit applications (CLBC) is available here (pdf, 80 KB);
• in case the ship is not entitled to fly the German flag, where the ship's registered owner does not have a place of business in the area covered by the Ordinance on the Issuance of Certificates under the Oil Pollution Damage Act: presentation of a written authorisation to receive documents. A form authorising a person to receive documents (CLBC) is availablein case the ship is not entitled to fly the German flag, the name and address of a person authorised to accept service whose permanent residence is in the area covered by the Ordinance on the Issuance of Certificates under the Oil Pollution Damage Act and who holds a power of attorney. The authorisation form for the authorised recipient (CLBC) is available here (PDF, 37 KB).

Information about Blue Cards

In the application procedure, the BSH will only accept insurance documents issued by insurers that are subject to supervision by Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin), which are members of the International Group of P&I Clubs, or in respect of which the BSH has received confirmation of the insurer’s solvency from the insurance supervisory authority of the state in which the insurer is domiciled.

Obligation to report changes

Any changes in the security cover provided, which is indicated in the Civil Liability Certificate, have to be notified to the BSH immediately. Non-compliance with this requirement constitutes an administrative offence that is punishable under the German Ölschadengesetz  (Oil Pollution Damage Act).

Carriage of Civil Liability Certificates on board ships

The original of the Civil Liability Certificate has to be carried on board the ship at all times. Failure by the ship’s owner to place the Civil Liability Certificate on board the ship or by the ship’s master to carry it on board and to produce it on request constitutes a punishable administrative offence under German law.

Fees

Under Art. 1 para. 2 of the Cost Ordinance for Official Acts of Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSHKostV), in conjunction with the annexed list of fees, the following fees are charged for the issue of a Civil Liability Certificate under the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage (CLBC):

The German text is authentic.