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 · India · 2011–2016

MV Rak Carrier coal and oil spill (Mumbai)

Nature's voice · report
Oil and tar balls from the ship reached my beaches, as far as Raigad, after August 2011.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record. Disputed
Recorded
  • A tribunal ordered money for the restoration of my mangroves, and for coal left on my seabed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 2 disputed · 2 unclear See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Who should pay for the environmental damage?
  • Company or project Astra Asigurari (P&I insurer): Refused to pay for environmental damage.
  • Government and regulators India's shipping directorate: Banned ships insured by Astra from Mumbai.
  • Courts Bombay High Court: Required a hearing before the ban.
  • Courts National Green Tribunal: Ordered the owners to pay Rs 100 crore and Adani Rs 5 crore (August 2016).

A coal-laden ship went down about 20 nautical miles off Mumbai in August 2011, and oil and tar balls reached beaches as far as Raigad. The ship's Romanian insurer refused to pay for environmental damage; in 2016 India's National Green Tribunal ordered the owners to pay Rs 100 crore.

Rs 100 crore + Rs 5 croreOrdered by India's National Green Tribunal, August 2016
Rs 100 crore against the ship's owners (about Rs 93 crore of it for mangrove restoration); Rs 5 crore against Adani for coal left on the seabed.

Status As of August 2016: the National Green Tribunal ordered the owners to pay Rs 100 crore and Adani Rs 5 crore; the record shows no later development.

What?
A ship carrying coal, fuel oil and diesel went down off Mumbai; oil and tar balls reached beaches, the insurer refused to pay for environmental damage, and a tribunal ordered payments.
Where?
About 20 nautical miles off Mumbai; beaches up to Raigad.
When?
August 2011; tribunal order August 2016.
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
  • Ship owners (named as Delta) — Ordered to pay Rs 100 crore, about Rs 93 crore of it for mangrove restoration
  • Adani — Ordered to pay Rs 5 crore for coal left on the seabed
Harmed
  • Beaches up to Raigad; mangroves; the seabed — Oil and tar balls reached beaches; mangrove restoration and removal of coal from the seabed were the subject of the ordered payments
Why?
The tribunal found the ship not seaworthy, with surveys done in a "biased manner".
How?
The ship carried more than 60,000 tonnes of coal, 290 tonnes of fuel oil and 50 tonnes of diesel; oil and tar balls reached beaches. The insurer refused to pay, the shipping directorate banned its insured ships from Mumbai, and the tribunal ordered the owners and Adani to pay.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

In August 2011 the MV Rak Carrier went down about 20 nautical miles off Mumbai. The ship carried more than 60,000 tonnes of coal, 290 tonnes of fuel oil and 50 tonnes of diesel. Oil and tar balls reached beaches as far as Raigad.

The ship's P&I (protection and indemnity) insurer, Astra Asigurari of Romania, refused to pay for environmental damage. India's shipping directorate then banned ships insured by Astra from Mumbai. The Bombay High Court required that a hearing be held first.

In August 2016 India's National Green Tribunal (Justice Swatanter Kumar) found the ship not seaworthy and said surveys had been done in a "biased manner". It ordered the owners, named in the record as Delta, to pay Rs 100 crore, about Rs 93 crore of it for mangrove restoration. It ordered Adani to pay Rs 5 crore for coal left on the seabed.

A suggestion that the insurance dispute reflected a deliberate motive appears only in commentary (Moneylife). The research found no deliberate act.

  1. 2011August: MV Rak Carrier goes down about 20 nm off Mumbai; oil and tar balls reach beaches up to Raigad
  2. 2016August: National Green Tribunal finds the ship not seaworthy; orders Rs 100 crore against the owners and Rs 5 crore against Adani

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“biased manner”

National Green Tribunal (Justice Swatanter Kumar), on how the ship's surveys were done · August 2016

Where accounts differ

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

Who should pay for the environmental damage?
Company or project
Astra Asigurari (P&I insurer)

Refused to pay for environmental damage.

Government and regulators
India's shipping directorate

Banned ships insured by Astra from Mumbai.

Courts
Bombay High Court

Required a hearing before the ban.

Courts
National Green Tribunal

Ordered the owners to pay Rs 100 crore and Adani Rs 5 crore (August 2016).

Was the ship seaworthy and properly surveyed?
Courts
National Green Tribunal

Found the ship not seaworthy, with surveys done in a "biased manner".

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • The ship carried more than 60,000 tonnes of coal, 290 tonnes of fuel oil and 50 tonnes of diesel.
    • Oil and tar balls reached beaches up to Raigad.
    • The P&I insurer, Astra Asigurari (Romania), refused to pay for environmental damage.
    • India's shipping directorate banned ships insured by Astra from Mumbai; the Bombay High Court required a hearing first.
    • The National Green Tribunal (August 2016) found the ship not seaworthy and the surveys done in a "biased manner".
    • The owners were ordered to pay Rs 100 crore, about Rs 93 crore of it for mangrove restoration; Adani was ordered to pay Rs 5 crore for coal left on the seabed.

    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: INR · Window: 2016 order. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

    Responses on record

    • astra-asigurari: Refused to pay for environmental damage.
    • india-shipping-directorate: Banned ships insured by Astra from Mumbai; the Bombay High Court required a hearing first.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    1. 2016-08Claimant wonINR crore 100m Ordered against the owners, about Rs 93 crore of it for mangrove restoration; Rs 5 crore ordered separately against Adani
      National Green Tribunal order on the MV Rak Carrier spill
      National Green Tribunal (India) · Administrative · Not stated in the record → Ship owners (named as Delta); Adani

      The tribunal found the ship not seaworthy, with surveys done in a "biased manner", ordered the owners to pay Rs 100 crore and Adani Rs 5 crore for coal left on the seabed.

    2. Outcome not on record
      Bombay High Court on the ban of Astra-insured ships from Mumbai
      Bombay High Court · Administrative · Not stated in the record → Not stated in the record

      After India's shipping directorate banned ships insured by Astra from Mumbai, the court required a hearing first.

    Insurers

    1. Claim refused
      Astra Asigurari (Romania), P&I insurer → MV Rak Carrier (owners named in the record as Delta)

      The insurer refused to pay for environmental damage. India's shipping directorate then banned ships it insures from Mumbai; the Bombay High Court required a hearing first.

    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.

    Oil and tar balls on beaches
    Up to Raigad
    After the August 2011 sinking
    Ordered for mangrove restoration
    About Rs 93 crore
    Part of the Rs 100 crore ordered against the owners (NGT, August 2016)
    Coal left on the seabed
    Rs 5 crore
    Ordered against Adani (NGT, August 2016)

    What we don't know

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

    Nature

    • Disputed Who should pay for the environmental damage?

    Court

    • Unclear Bombay High Court on the ban of Astra-insured ships from Mumbai: outcome not on record.

    Accounts

    • Disputed Was the ship seaworthy and properly surveyed?

    Record

    • Unclear Whether the insurer's refusal reflected any deliberate motive: a suggestion appears only in commentary (Moneylife); the research found no deliberate act.
    • None on record Reason given by Astra Asigurari for refusing to pay: not stated in the record.

    Did the harm stop?

    Who paid?

    The owners and Adani were ordered to pay; the P&I insurer refused to pay for environmental damage.

    Sources

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

    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

    P&I club
    A protection and indemnity club: a mutual association of shipowners that covers members' liabilities to third parties, including oil pollution.
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