The Government of India approved a proposal for the country’s accession to an international convention which ensures compensation for damage caused by ship bunker oil spills. The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, approved the Ministry of Shipping's proposal for India's accession to the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage, 2001 (Bunker Convention) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as well as to amend the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 to give effect to the Bunker Convention, Nairobi Convention and Salvage Convention. The Bunker Convention ensures adequate, prompt, and effective compensation for damage caused by spills of oil, when carried as fuel in ships' bunkers. The territorial jurisdiction for damage compensation extends to territorial sea and exclusive economic zones. It applies to an Indian vessel, wherever it is situated, and to a foreign flag vessel while it is within Indian jurisdiction. The registered owner of every vessel has to maintain compulsory insurance cover which allows claim for compensation for pollution damage to be brought directly against an insurer. Every ship above one thousand gross tonnage has to carry a certificate on board to the effect that it maintains insurance or other financial ...
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