Information Notice. Regarding the insurance certificates Required under the IMO Conventions

Transcription

1 Information Notice Regarding the insurance certificates Required under the IMO Conventions The purpose of this information notice is to detail the process of delivery of the insurance certificates required under the 1992 International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage and the 2001 International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage. I- Perspectives regarding vessels insurance certificates France will become a party to the IMO Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage (referred to hereafter as Bunker Convention ) on January 19 th, As of that date, the insurance certificates required under this convention will have to be issued by the French Maritime Authorities for all vessels flying French flag. In mainland France, the delivery of these insurance certificates under the Bunker Convention has been delegated to the Direction Interrégionale des Affaires Maritimes (DIRM Inter-regional Division of Maritime Affaires), or, for vessels registered under the French International Registry to the R.I.F. s Guichet Unique (single window). The delivery of insurance certificates under the CLC convention has also been delegated to the DIRM or to the Guichet Unique for RIF vessels, to start as of As for French Overseas Territories, the delivery of the CLC and Bunker certificates will be made by the local Maritime Divisions and Maritime Affairs Bureaus. As of 2012, the delivery of the Bunker insurance certificates will be delegated to Classification Societies. The delivery of certificates covering passenger carriage (Athens Convention) and wreck removal (Nairobi Convention) will also be delegated once these conventions will have been enforced. The French Maritime Authorities will keep charge of the delivery of Certificates covering the CLC and HNS conventions only. The delivery of certificates to a vessel registered in a country which is not a party to the Conventions will be made possible. The delivery of such certificates is a faculty, and will take place depending on the availability of the concerned Department/Division. This faculty will however be refused to vessels flying flags from countries appearing on the Paris MoU s black list. II Obligation to have an insurance certificate The subscribing of an insurance cover under the CLC and Bunker conventions is rendered compulsory based on the following field of application: 1/6

2 Types of vessels concerned Application threshold of the insurance / financial security obligation 1992 International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage Art 1 : «any sea-going vessel and seaborne craft of any type whatsoever constructed or adapted for the carriage of oil in bulk as cargo». Art 7 : The owner of a ship registered in a Contracting State and carrying more than 2,000 tons of oil in bulk as cargo shall be required to have insurance or other financial security, such as the guarantee of a bank or a certificate delivered by an international compensation fund, to cover his liability for pollution damage 2001 International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage Art 1 : «any seagoing vessel and seaborne craft of any type whatsoever». Art 7 : The registered owner of a ship having a gross tonnage greater than 1000 registered in a State Party shall be required to have 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 Remarks: The IMO Guidelines have specified the following points Oil carriers bearing a CLC certificate will also have to bear a Certificate for the Bunker convention Certificates intended under the Bunker convention must also be delivered for barges, floating pontoons and other non-motorized floating devices/objects, as long as they are registered as commercial vessels since they then fall within the scope of the definition of vessels concerned under the said Bunker Convention and can potentially carry oil products for operations other than propulsion. III Process of delivery of the certificates A- The application file 1. Who should address the application for a certificate? The application for the certificate(s) should be issued by the Registered Owner of the vessel (as mentioned in the vessel s French registration act or in the vessel s national registration act for foreign vessel) or his representative/proxy. 2. Whom should the application be addressed to? a) for vessels registered in mainland France: Either to the DIRM to which the vessel s port of registry is attached Or to the DIRM of the area in which the Owner is domiciled Or the Guichet Unique (single window) for RIF-registered vessels b) for vessels registered in French Overseas Territories Either to the Maritime Affaires Regional Office or the local Maritime Affaires Department to which the vessel s port of registry is attached Or to the Maritime Affaires Regional Office or the local Maritime Affaires Department of the area in which the Owner is domiciled 2/6

3 3. Content of the application The application file shall bear the following documents: i) A letter by which the applicant requests officially the delivery by the French State of the certificate(s) according to the relevant convention(s) (depending on whether the vessel requires more than one certificate according to the application conventions) ii) iii) A copy of the French Registration act The insurance certificate(s) delivered by his insurer, each corresponding to the Convention for which a certificate is being applied for The insurance certificate must be addressed to the French Authority in charge of the delivery of the Certificate and bear the name and address of the insurer. It must also bear all necessary identification elements of the vessel to be inserted within the Certificate. In that document, the insurer must expressly undertake to cover the vessel according to the standards set by the Convention for which the certificate is being applied for. The insurance certificate shall be disclosed under the form of: - a signed and stamped original - an electronic document, or a printed version of such (in which case the insurer must keep available/accessible a database allowing the verification of the accuracy of the certified insurance cover). B. Establishing and delivering the Certificates An original of the Certificate will be remitted to the applicant: 1. either by registered letter with recorded delivery 2. or through any duly authorized representative/proxy, against signature of a registry listing all delivered certificates The Certificate must be kept onboard the vessel. A notice handed with the Certificate will remind this obligation as well as all notification obligations towards the Maritime Authorities in case of any event that may alter the validity of the certificates (see Appendix). 3/6

4 APPENDIX I Maritime Authorities to whom the applications for insurance certificates must be addressed - The Inter-regional Director of Maritime Affaires for the Eastern English Channel & North Sea, DIRM MEMN 4 rue du Colonel Fabien BP le Havre Tél : dirm-memn@developpement-durable.gouv.fr (corresponding to the following areas : North - Pas-de-Calais, Picardie, Normandy) - The Inter-regional Director of Maritime Affaires for the North Atlantic - Western English Channel, DIRM NAMO 2 Boulevard Allard B.P NANTES CEDEX 4 Tél : dirm-namo@developpement-durable.gouv.fr (corresponding to the following areas : Brittany and Pays de la Loire) - The Inter-regional Director of Maritime Affaires for the South Atlantic, DIRM SA 1-3, rue Fondaudège CS BORDEAUX CEDEX Tél : dirm-sa@developpement-durable.gouv.fr (corresponding to the following areas : Poitou-Charentes et Aquitaine) - The Inter-regional Director of Maritime Affaires for the Med Sea, DIRM MED 23 rue des Phocéens MARSEILLE CEDEX 2 Tél : dirm-med@developpement-durable.gouv.fr (corresponding to the following areas : Languedoc-Roussillon, French Riviera and Corsica) - The Director of the RIF «Guichet unique» (single window) Service du Registre International Français (RIF) 5 Place de la Joliette Marseille Tél : ou 63 rif@equipement.gouv.fr - The head of the Maritime Affaires Division of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon Service des affaires maritimes de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon 1, Rue Gloanec BP SAINT-PIERRE ET MIQUELON Tél : , SAM-975@developpement-durable.gouv.fr 4/6

5 - The head of the Maritime Affaires Division of Mayotte, Service des affaires maritimes de Mayotte, B.P PAMANDZI Tél : SAM-Mayotte@developpement-durable.gouv.fr - The head of the Maritime Affaires Division of French Polynesia, Service des affaires maritimes de de Polynésie française, Motu-Uta BP MOTU-UTA PAPEETE Tél : Fax : The head of the Maritime Affaires Division of New Caledonia Service des Affaires maritimes de Nouvelle Calédonie BP NOUMEA CEDEX Tél : Fax : The head of the Maritime Division of French Guyana Direction de la mer de la Guyane 2 Bis, rue Mentel BP CAYENNE CEDEX Tél : Tél : Fax : Dram-Guyane@developpement-durable.gouv.fr - The head of the Maritime Division of Reunion Island and other islands of the area, Direction de la mer de la Réunion et des iles éparses, 11, rue de la Compagnie B.P. 313 Tél : SAINT-DENIS CEDEX DRAM-Reunion@developpement-durable.gouv.fr - The head of the Maritime Division of Martinique, Direction de la mer de la Martinique, Boulevard Chevalier de Sainte Marthe - BP FORT DE FRANCE CEDEX Tél : Fax : DRAM-Martinique@equipement.gouv.fr - The head of the Maritime Division of Guadeloupe, Direction de la mer de la Guadeloupe, 20, rue Henri Becquerel BP JARRY CEDEX Tél : Dram-Guadeloupe@developpement-durable.gouv.fr 5/6

6 APPENDIX II Information Notice To be handed to the applicant for an insurance certificate under the 1992 International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage and the 2001 International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage The original of the insurance certificate delivered in application of the 1992 International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage or the 2001 International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage must be kept onboard the vessel. It shall be among the documents to provide during Port State controls. As per the conventions, any event which nature may invalidate the certificate must be declared to the Authority having issued the said certificate. Except in case of normal expiry of the period of cover as mentioned on the certificate, the validity of a certificate cannot cease nor shall the bind it creates towards the entity providing insurance of financial security without a three-month prior written notice Except in case of normal expiry, a certificate which is no longer valid must be restored to the Authority having issued it. 6/6