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 · Israel · 2021–2022

Israel tar spill, February 2021: unidentified tanker, IOPC Fund compensation and oiled turtles

Nature's voice · report
In February 2021 tar of unidentified origin washed onto my coast; the Michmoret rescue centre received 10 injured sea turtles in two days, five covered in tar, press reports say. International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds) Israel21c
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record.
Recorded
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 insufficient · 2 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps

Tar washed up along Israel's Mediterranean coast in February 2021. The 1992 IOPC Fund treated it as a spill of unidentified origin and authorised payment of admissible claims; the Michmoret rescue centre received 10 injured sea turtles in two days.

ILS 55 million estimateEstimated response cost
Estimate given to the IOPC Funds in July 2021. By March 2022, 27 claims totalling ILS 8.5 million had been submitted.

Status As of March 2022 (latest IOPC document in the sources reviewed): 27 claims totalling ILS 8.5 million submitted; the tanker was not identified and final compensation is not on record.

What?
Tar of unidentified origin washed up along Israel's coast in February 2021, oiling sea turtles; the 1992 IOPC Fund authorised payment of admissible claims. International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds)
Where?
Israel's Mediterranean coast; the Michmoret rescue centre received the injured turtles. International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds)
When?
February 2021 (spill and request of 19 February); July 2021 (76th Executive Committee session); March 2022 (claims status). International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds)
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
Harmed
  • Sea turtles on Israel's coast — 10 injured turtles received at Michmoret in two days, five covered in tar; final dead count not on record Israel21c
Why?
The source is not identified: samples showed crude oil from one source consistent with an unknown tanker. International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds)
How?
Compensation under the 1992 Civil Liability and Fund Conventions, with the 1992 Fund authorising payment of admissible claims. International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds)
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Tar washed up along Israel's coast in February 2021. Israel asked the 1992 International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (IOPC Fund) for assistance on 19 February 2021. Samples showed crude oil from one source, consistent with an unknown tanker. Israel named one tanker as likely, but the evidence was circumstantial.

At its 76th session in July 2021 the IOPC 1992 Fund Executive Committee treated the incident as a "mystery spill", decided that the 1992 Civil Liability and Fund Conventions apply, and authorised payment of admissible claims. The estimated response cost was ILS 55 million (IOPC, July 2021); by March 2022, 27 claims totalling ILS 8.5 million had been submitted.

The Michmoret rescue centre received 10 injured sea turtles in two days, five of them covered in tar, according to press reports. Press reports also said an Israeli court barred publication of details of the investigation. Final compensation, the identity of the tanker and the final count of dead turtles are not on record.

  1. 2021Tar washes up along Israel's coast (Feb); Israel asks the 1992 IOPC Fund for assistance (19 Feb); the Executive Committee, 76th session, authorises payment of admissible claims (Jul)
  2. 202227 claims totalling ILS 8.5 million recorded by the IOPC Funds (Mar)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“mystery spill”

Where accounts differ

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

The source of the spill
Government and regulators
Government of Israel

Named one tanker as likely.

International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds)
International bodies
IOPC 1992 Fund Executive Committee

Found the evidence circumstantial and treated the incident as a "mystery spill".

International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds)

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    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
    Estimated response cost (IOPC, July 2021) estimate55m
    27 claims submitted by March 2022 (IOPC)8.5m
    Final amounts paid not found.
    Currency: ILS · Window: 2021-2022. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

    Responses on record

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    1. 2021-02-19–2021-07OngoingILS 55m Estimated response cost, millions (IOPC, July 2021)
      IOPC 1992 Fund Executive Committee decision on the Israel incident of February 2021
      IOPC 1992 Fund Executive Committee, 76th session · International court · Government of Israel (request for assistance of 19 February 2021) → 1992 IOPC Fund; no tanker identified

      The Executive Committee decided that the 1992 Civil Liability and Fund Conventions apply and authorised payment of admissible claims. By March 2022, 27 claims totalling ILS 8.5 million had been submitted. Final amounts paid are not on record. International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds)

    Insurers

    1. 2021No policy found
      IOPC 1992 Fund → Claimants in Israel (government and others)
      Stated reason: Spill of unidentified origin treated as a "mystery spill"

      The Fund authorised payment of admissible claims in July 2021; 27 claims totalling ILS 8.5 million had been submitted by March 2022; final amounts paid are not on record. International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (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.

    Injured sea turtles received at Michmoret
    10
    In two days, five covered in tar; press report
    Turtle deaths and species split
    Not on record
    Totals incomplete in the sources reviewed

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
    No court case

    Insurers

    • Unclear IOPC 1992 Fund: no decision on record.

    Accounts

    Record

    • None on record None on record: which tanker caused the spill; an Israeli court barred publication of investigation details, according to press reports.
    • None on record None on record: final compensation amounts paid.
    • Insufficient Insufficient: turtle totals are incomplete (10 admitted in two days); the final dead count and species split are not on record.
    • Disputed Disputed: Israel named one tanker as likely; the evidence was circumstantial and the incident was treated as a mystery spill.

    Did the harm stop?

    The spill occurred in February 2021 and the sources reviewed give no later count of oiled or dead turtles; the Environment Ministry later declared the oil spill emergency over (Times of Israel; date not given in the sources reviewed).

    Who paid?

    The 1992 IOPC Fund authorised payment of admissible claims in July 2021 for a spill of unidentified origin; the final amounts paid are not on record.

    Sources

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

    Press and investigations

    International bodies

    1. IOPC Funds document, July 2021 session (Executive Committee, 76th session)
      International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds) · 2021-07
    2. IOPC Funds document, March 2022 session (claims status for the Israel incident)
      International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds) · 2022-03

    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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