Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Oil spill · France · 1999–2012

Erika oil spill

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 4 insufficient · 1 not measured · 1 disputed See the gaps

The Malta-flagged tanker Erika was involved in an oil pollution incident off Brittany, France, on 12 December 1999. In 2012 France's Court of Cassation upheld criminal liability for four parties, including Total SA, and held Total could not rely on the shipowner's liability channelling.

€116.9mPaid by the 1992 Fund (IOPC table)
Listed alongside €12.8m from Steamship Mutual, against a shipowner liability limit (CLC) of €12.84m.

Status As of the latest record in the sources reviewed: the Court of Cassation ruled on 25 September 2012; no later proceedings are recorded.

What?
An oil pollution incident involving the Malta-flagged tanker Erika, followed by compensation through the international regime and a 2012 Court of Cassation judgment on liability. IOPC Funds
Where?
Brittany, France.
When?
12 December 1999; the Court of Cassation ruled on 25 September 2012. IOPC Funds
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
the sources reviewed give the legal basis of liability rather than the cause of the incident: the Court found Total's recklessness removed its protection under the Civil Liability Convention. IOPC Funds
How?
The shipowner's liability was limited to €12.84m under the CLC; the 1992 Fund paid €116.9m; after the 2012 judgment civil parties were paid by Total and RINA. IOPC Funds
5 of 6 questions answered from the record · open: who

What happened

The record, in order.

The tanker Erika, which sailed under the Maltese flag, was involved in an oil pollution incident off Brittany, France, on 12 December 1999. The source sources reviewed gives no figures for the quantity of oil spilled, the length of coast affected or the wildlife harmed.

Compensation for the pollution passed through the international oil pollution regime. An IOPC table lists Steamship Mutual at €12.8m and the 1992 Fund at €116.9m; the shipowner's liability limit under the Civil Liability Convention (CLC) was €12.84m. A secondary source (Baird) reports that a global settlement between the Fund, Steamship Mutual, RINA and Total was reached in 2011.

On 25 September 2012 the French Court of Cassation upheld criminal liability for four parties: the shipowner's representative, the manager's president, the classification society RINA and Total SA. The IOPC Funds reported that Total could not rely on the CLC's protection for parties other than the shipowner, because the damage resulted from its "recklessness", and that civil parties were paid by Total and RINA.

The IOPC Funds stated that the judgment had no financial impact on the 1992 Fund. A secondary source (Eurojuris) gives €200.6m as the joint civil liability of Total and its co-defendants; the sources reviewed marks that figure as secondary.

  1. 199912 December: Erika incident off Brittany
  2. 2011Global settlement between the 1992 Fund, Steamship Mutual, RINA and Total reported (secondary source)
  3. 201225 September: Court of Cassation upholds criminal liability for four parties and holds Total civilly liable

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“no financial impact on the 1992 Fund”

IOPC Funds, describing the 2012 Court of Cassation judgment · September 2012 · IOPC Funds

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Could Total rely on the Civil Liability Convention's channelling of liability to the shipowner?
Courts
French Court of Cassation (as reported by the IOPC Funds)

Total could not rely on CLC protection because the damage resulted from its "recklessness".

IOPC Funds
International bodies
IOPC Funds

The Convention names the protected parties; cargo owners and oil receivers are not on that list, and the protection falls away where damage results from intent or recklessness. The judgment had no financial impact on the 1992 Fund.

IOPC Funds

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • Court of Cassation, 25 September 2012: criminal liability upheld for the shipowner's representative, the manager's president, RINA and Total SA (IOPC Funds).
      IOPC Funds
    • Total could not rely on CLC protection because the damage resulted from its "recklessness" (IOPC Funds).
      IOPC Funds
    • Civil parties were paid by Total and RINA; no financial impact on the 1992 Fund (IOPC Funds).
      IOPC Funds
    • IOPC table: Steamship Mutual €12.8m and 1992 Fund €116.9m; CLC limit €12.84m.
    • Under the IOPC Funds Claims Manual (section 1.4.13, as reported) the Fund does not pay for environmental damage calculated abstractly from theoretical models, or for punitive damages.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    1. 2012-09-25Claimant won
      Erika: criminal liability (Court of Cassation)
      Court of Cassation · Criminal · Prosecution and civil parties → The shipowner's representative, the manager's president, RINA and Total SA

      The Court of Cassation upheld criminal liability for the four parties (IOPC Funds). IOPC Funds

    2. 2012-09-25Claimant won€200.6m EUR m; joint liability reported by a secondary source (Eurojuris)
      Erika: civil liability of Total
      Court of Cassation · Civil · Civil parties → Total SA and co-defendants including RINA

      The Court held Total could not rely on CLC protection because of "recklessness"; civil parties were paid by Total and RINA, with no financial impact on the 1992 Fund (IOPC Funds). The €200.6m figure is from a secondary source. IOPC Funds

    Insurers

    1. Paid€12.8m EUR m
      Steamship Mutual → Erika's shipowner (not named in the sources reviewed)
      Stated reason: Liability limit applied (CLC limit €12.84m)

      The IOPC table lists Steamship Mutual at €12.8m alongside the 1992 Fund at €116.9m; the sources reviewed record no insurer refusal and that limits applied.

    What nature saw

    Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

    Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

    Criminal liability upheld
    4 parties
    Court of Cassation, 25 September 2012
    Paid by the 1992 Fund
    €116.9m
    IOPC table; Steamship Mutual €12.8m; CLC limit €12.84m
    Ecological harm quantified
    not on record
    No figure for oil spilled, coast affected or wildlife harmed

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
    Court ruling exists

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Figures

    • Insufficient Civil liability joint: Joint civil liability of Total and co-defendants; secondary source (Eurojuris), not independently verified.

    Accounts

    • Disputed Could Total rely on the Civil Liability Convention's channelling of liability to the shipowner?

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: payments to claimants were set at 50% (July 2000), then 60%, 80% (June 2001) and 100% (April 2003), and Total SA and the French Government reportedly undertook to stand last in the queue. The sources reviewed drew this from secondary sources citing IOPC documents, and the primary IOPC documents could not be checked.
    • Insufficient Reported by a secondary source and not independently verified: a payment of €35.8m attributed to RINA (ITIC) and a joint civil liability of €200.6m for Total and co-defendants (Eurojuris).
    • Insufficient Reported by a secondary source (Baird) and not independently verified: the 2011 global settlement between the 1992 Fund, Steamship Mutual, RINA and Total.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not recorded in the source sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    According to the IOPC Funds, civil parties were paid by Total and RINA after the 2012 judgment, with no financial impact on the 1992 Fund. The IOPC table separately lists Steamship Mutual at €12.8m and the 1992 Fund at €116.9m.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers✓ International bodies

    International bodies

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Insurance

    IOPC Funds
    The International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds: intergovernmental funds, financed by companies that receive oil by sea, that pay for tanker oil-spill damage above the shipowner's liability limit.

    Law and courts

    Punitive damages
    Money a court orders a defendant to pay to punish especially reckless conduct, on top of compensation for losses. Mainly used in US courts.
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