Infl uence of the Torrey Canyon incident on the liability and compensation regimes developed under the auspices of the IMO

On the morning of 18March 1967, the super tanker Torrey Canyon1 ran aground off the south-west coast of the UK, on Seven Stones Reef, between the Scilly Isles

and Land’s End.2 During the following days, its entire cargo of 120,000 tonnes of

crude oil spilled into the sea, polluting hundreds of miles of coastline and beaches

of England and Normandy and causing great damage to the fi shing, tourism and

related industries as well as to the marine environment and wildlife.