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 · South Korea · 2007

Hebei Spirit 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: 3 none on record · 3 insufficient · 1 not measured · 2 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps

An oil spill from the Hebei Spirit off Taean, South Korea, on 7 December 2007 produced claims of KRW 4,227 billion. The compensation limit under the international conventions was KRW 321.6 billion, and the Korean state paid the remaining claims.

KRW 4,227bn: KRW 432.9bnClaims filed vs awarded by the court
IOPC Funds figures. The limit available under the 1992 Conventions was KRW 321.6bn.

Status As of the latest IOPC Funds document in the record (November 2020): the limitation fund had been distributed and the Korean state was paying the remaining claims; no later update was found.

What?
An oil spill from the Hebei Spirit off Taean, South Korea, led to 127,483 claims for KRW 4,227bn against a KRW 321.6bn limit. IOPC Funds
Where?
Off Taean, South Korea. IOPC Funds
When?
7 December 2007; limitation fund distributed September 2019. IOPC Funds
Who?
Gained
  • Samsung Heavy Industries — Its exposure to the 1992 Fund's KRW 134.8bn recourse claim is limited to its KRW 5.6bn limitation fund IOPC Funds
Lost
  • Claimants — 127,483 claims for KRW 4,227bn; the court awarded KRW 432.9bn IOPC Funds
  • Korean state — Paid the remaining claims IOPC Funds
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The record does not state the cause of the spill; it records that compensation was capped by the 1992 CLC and Fund limits. IOPC Funds
How?
Liability was layered: the shipowner's insurer Skuld (KRW 186.8bn) and the 1992 Fund (KRW 134.8bn) up to KRW 321.6bn, with the Korean state paying the remaining claims. IOPC Funds
In proportion Arithmetic on the IOPC Funds figures: the court award is about 10% of the amount claimed (KRW 432.9bn of KRW 4,227bn), and the limit available is about 7.6% (KRW 321.6bn). IOPC Funds
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

On 7 December 2007 the Hebei Spirit oil spill occurred off Taean, South Korea. The sources available give no cause, volume of oil or ecological measurements for the spill.

According to an IOPC Funds document of November 2020, 127,483 claims were filed for KRW 4,227 billion. The IOPC Funds summary records that the court awarded KRW 432.9 billion.

Compensation was handled under the international tanker-pollution system: the shipowner's insurer under the 1992 Civil Liability Convention, then the 1992 Fund, with an optional Supplementary Fund above that. The amount available under the 1992 Conventions was KRW 321.6 billion: Skuld KRW 186.8 billion and the 1992 Fund KRW 134.8 billion, described as paid in full. The owner's limitation fund, KRW 230.9 billion including interest, was distributed in September 2019.

In April 2019 the 1992 Fund passed its remaining KRW 27.5 billion to the Korean government, which pays the remaining claims. The Fund's KRW 134.8 billion recourse claim against Samsung Heavy Industries sits within that company's KRW 5.6 billion limitation fund.

  1. 20077 December: oil spill off Taean, South Korea
  2. 2017IOPC Funds marks ten years since the incident (7 December)
  3. 2019Fund passes its remaining KRW 27.5bn to the Korean government (April); owner's limitation fund of KRW 230.9bn distributed (September)
  4. 2020IOPC Funds document records 127,483 claims for KRW 4,227bn and that the Korean state pays the remaining claims

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

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

How much should have been paid, and by whom?
International bodies
IOPC Funds

KRW 321.6bn was available under the 1992 Conventions (Skuld KRW 186.8bn, 1992 Fund KRW 134.8bn) against claims of KRW 4,227bn; the court awarded KRW 432.9bn; the Korean state pays the remaining claims.

IOPC Funds
Company or project
Samsung Heavy Industries

Its liability on the Fund's KRW 134.8bn recourse claim is limited to its KRW 5.6bn limitation fund (as described by the IOPC Funds).

IOPC Funds

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • Claims filed: 127,483, for KRW 4,227bn.
      IOPC Funds
    • The court awarded KRW 432.9bn.
      IOPC Funds
    • Amount available under the 1992 Conventions: KRW 321.6bn (SDR 203m), made up of Skuld KRW 186.8bn and the 1992 Fund KRW 134.8bn; described as paid in full.
      IOPC Funds
    • The owner's limitation fund, KRW 230.9bn including interest, was distributed in September 2019.
      IOPC Funds
    • In April 2019 the Fund passed its remaining KRW 27.5bn to the government, which pays the remaining claims; the Korean state paid the remaining claims.
      IOPC Funds
    • The Fund's KRW 134.8bn recourse claim against Samsung Heavy Industries is within SHI's KRW 5.6bn limitation fund.
      IOPC Funds
    • The IOPC Funds said in December 2017 that it had paid about KRW 107bn on more than 127,000 claims, alongside Skuld's KRW 186.8bn.
      IOPC Funds

    Who gained

    Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

    Reached nature or the ground

    Not published
    No figure published.

    Gained elsewhere

    Not totalled
    Currency: KRW · Window: 2007–2019. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

    Responses on record

    • IOPC Funds (April 2019 (reported November 2020)): In April 2019 the Fund passed its remaining KRW 27.5bn to the government, which pays the remaining claims; the Fund's KRW 134.8bn recourse claim against Samsung Heavy Industries sits within SHI's KRW 5.6bn limitation fund. · IOPC Funds

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    1. not statedClaimant wonKRW 432.9bn Awarded by the court (KRW million), against KRW 4,227,000 million claimed
      Compensation claims for the Hebei Spirit spill
      Korean court proceedings and the 1992 Fund claims process · Civil · 127,483 claimants → Shipowner, its insurer Skuld and the 1992 Fund

      Claims of KRW 4,227bn were filed and the court awarded KRW 432.9bn. KRW 321.6bn was available under the 1992 Conventions and paid; the Korean state paid the remaining claims. IOPC Funds

    2. not statedOutcome not on recordKRW 134.8bn Recourse claim (KRW million)
      1992 Fund recourse claim against Samsung Heavy Industries
      Samsung Heavy Industries limitation fund · Civil · 1992 Fund (IOPC Funds) → Samsung Heavy Industries

      The Fund's KRW 134.8bn recourse claim is within SHI's KRW 5.6bn limitation fund. IOPC Funds

    Insurers

    1. 2019PaidKRW 186.8bn Skuld's share of the KRW 321.6bn limit (KRW million)
      Skuld → Owner of the Hebei Spirit

      Skuld's KRW 186.8bn and the 1992 Fund's KRW 134.8bn made up the KRW 321.6bn available under the 1992 Conventions, described as paid in full. The owner's limitation fund, KRW 230.9bn including interest, was distributed in September 2019. IOPC Funds

    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.

    Claims filed vs court award
    KRW 4,227bn vs 432.9bn
    127,483 claims; IOPC Funds, November 2020
    Limit available under the 1992 Conventions
    KRW 321.6bn
    Skuld KRW 186.8bn plus 1992 Fund KRW 134.8bn
    Who paid the remaining claims
    Korean state
    After the Fund passed its remaining KRW 27.5bn to the government in April 2019

    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.

    Court

    • Unclear 1992 Fund recourse claim against Samsung Heavy Industries: outcome not on record.

    Accounts

    • Disputed How much should have been paid, and by whom?

    Record

    • None on record the sources reviewed's sources give no volume of oil spilled, length of coast affected or other ecological measurements.
    • Insufficient The court's figure is given as KRW 432.9bn in the IOPC Funds summary; a separate note cites KRW 736bn as the court's assessment of the loss. That second figure is unverified, and the record does not reconcile the two.
    • Disputed The 1992 Fund's payment is given as about KRW 107bn in December 2017 and as KRW 134.8bn in November 2020; the record does not explain the difference.
    • None on record The owner's side is given as KRW 186.8bn (Skuld's share of the KRW 321.6bn) and as an owner's limitation fund of KRW 230.9bn including interest; the record does not reconcile the two figures.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: payment levels were set at 60% in March 2008 and cut to 35% in June 2008; Korea joined the Supplementary Fund in May 2010, after the incident.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: Korea passed a special law under which the state bears approved damage above the cap.
    • None on record The final payment level to claimants is not given in the record.

    Did the harm stop?

    The spill was a single event on 7 December 2007. Payments were still being made by the Korean state in November 2020.

    Who paid?

    Claims up to KRW 321.6bn were paid by the shipowner's insurer Skuld and the 1992 Fund; the Korean state paid the remaining claims.

    Sources

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

    International bodies

    2. 10 years since the Hebei Spirit
      IOPC Funds · 2017-12-07
    3. IOPC document IOPC/APR16/3/5
      IOPC Funds · 2016-04

    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.
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