ABSTRACT
Up to the early 1970s marine pollution from shipping was far from being regulated. Marine pollution from ships may stem from oil carried on tankers or bunker fuel carried from any type of ship as well as from other substances such as chemicals. Marine pollution generates various types of losses, damages and expenses eligible for compensation by the polluter and/or his insurers. The work of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds is intertwined with the international legal regime governing oil pollution, which consists of the 1992 Civil Liability Convention and the 1992 Fund Convention. Civil liability primarily aims at the compensation of the victims of pollution damage. With details set out by each national system, the criminal liability of the polluter is generally additional to civil liability. The Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims is a text on global limitation of liability; it was adopted in 1976 and replaced a previous instrument on the matter.
