Port Authority sued (From Western Telegraph)

Port Authority sued

MILFORD HAVEN Port Authority is being sued for £34 million over the Sea Empress disaster.

The announcement was made by the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (IOPCF) on the sixth anniversary of the incident. The tanker ran onto rocks at the entrance to the Milford Haven Waterway in February 1996.

The Fund, which is claiming £26 million, started legal proceedings on Wednesday.

A £4 million claim is also being made by the shipowners insurer Skuld, and several additional claims will amount to a further £4 million.

Compensation of around £22.4 million has gone out to bodies and organisations involved in clean-up operations; £8.5 million went to fishermen and others in the fishing industry for lost earnings, and £2.3 million went to owners of hotels, bed and breakfast establishments, pubs, restaurants and others involved in the tourist industry.

The Port Authoritys lawyers anticipated the claim and have been working on a response for some time.

Ted Sangster, the authoritys general manager, said: We are insured for civil actions and the claim will be against our insurers rather than ourselves. But it will be another diversion of management time and attention from running our business. The Sea Empress will also be brought to the forefront of public perception, raising again the concerns that were quite rightly raised at the time.

A IOPCF spokesman said: The governments of the IOPCF member states have taken a policy decision that the IOPCF should, in respect of any oil pollution incident, endeavour to recover the amount it has paid out in compensation.

The IOPCF considers, after thorough investigations, that the oil spill and its consequences were caused by the fault of the Milford Haven Port Authority. In accordance with our policy, the IOPCF and Skuld have issued proceedings in the Admiralty Court in London against the Port Authority.

The IOPCF maintains the Authority failed to take reasonable care to avoid the risk of a laden tanker grounding and spilling oil. In particular, the authority failed to give proper consideration to the risk of a laden tanker going aground and causing serious oil pollution, and failed to put in place procedures to control or reduce the risk as much as possible.

The IOPCF and Skuld in this regard stepped into the shoes of the victims of the incident in accordance with UK law.