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 · Philippines · 2023–2025

Princess Empress oil spill (Philippines)

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: 1 not measured · 1 disputed See the gaps

The tanker Princess Empress spilled oil off Mindoro on 28 February 2023. Of PHP 15.06bn claimed, PHP 3.88bn was approved and PHP 2.71bn paid.

PHP 2.71bn of PHP 15.06bnClaims paid vs claimed
PHP 3.88bn approved; paid by the Shipowners' Club and the 1992 Fund (IOPC document NOV25/3/12).

Status As of November 2025: PHP 2.71bn paid of PHP 3.88bn approved and PHP 15.06bn claimed.

What?
An oil spill from the tanker Princess Empress.
Where?
Mindoro, the Philippines.
When?
28 February 2023.
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
MARINA stated the tanker sailed without an amended certificate of public convenience; the sources reviewed do not state the cause of the spill.
How?
The sources reviewed do not describe how the spill occurred.
5 of 6 questions answered from the record · open: who

What happened

The record, in order.

The tanker Princess Empress spilled oil off Mindoro, the Philippines, on 28 February 2023.

According to IOPC Funds document IOPC/NOV25/3/12, claims of PHP 15.06bn were submitted, PHP 3.88bn was approved and PHP 2.71bn had been paid. The payments came from the Shipowners' Club and the 1992 Fund.

The Philippine maritime regulator MARINA stated that the tanker sailed without an amended certificate of public convenience, and revoked the certificate on 11 May 2023. A senator warned that the insurer might refuse to pay; the Club paid regardless.

The Princess Empress is one of the incidents to which the voluntary STOPIA 2006 scheme (amended 2017) applied. Under it, owners of ships of 29,548 GT or less entered in International Group P&I clubs voluntarily raise their exposure to SDR 20m by reimbursing the 1992 Fund. In the November 2025 levy cycle the 1992 Fund levied £5m for the Princess Empress, due 1 March 2026.

  1. 202328 February: Princess Empress oil spill off Mindoro
  2. 202311 May: MARINA revokes the tanker's certificate of public convenience
  3. 2025November: IOPC document records PHP 15.06bn claimed, PHP 3.88bn approved, PHP 2.71bn paid; £5m levied for the Princess Empress, due 1 March 2026

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • PHP 15.06bn claimed; PHP 3.88bn approved; PHP 2.71bn paid (Shipowners' Club plus 1992 Fund).
      IOPC Funds
    • MARINA stated the tanker sailed without an amended certificate of public convenience and revoked the certificate on 11 May 2023.
    • STOPIA 2006 (amended 2017) applied to the Princess Empress.
    • November 2025 levy cycle: £5m for the Princess Empress, due 1 March 2026.

    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: PHP · Window: 2023–2025. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

    Responses on record

    • Shipowners' Club (2023): Paid claims, despite a senator's warning that the insurer might refuse.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    1. 2023-05-11Claimant won
      MARINA revocation of certificate of public convenience
      MARINA · Regulatory · MARINA → Owner/operator of the Princess Empress

      MARINA stated the tanker sailed without an amended certificate of public convenience and revoked the certificate on 11 May 2023.

    Insurers

    1. 2025Paid
      Shipowners' Club → Owner of the Princess Empress

      A senator warned the insurer might refuse; the Club paid regardless. The sources reviewed give PHP 2.71bn paid jointly with the 1992 Fund against PHP 3.88bn approved. 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 paid vs claimed
    PHP 2.71bn of PHP 15.06bn
    PHP 3.88bn approved (IOPC document NOV25/3/12)

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
    No independent ecological evaluation

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.

    Record

    • Disputed Claims of PHP 15.06bn were submitted and PHP 3.88bn approved; the sources reviewed do not give reasons for the difference.

    Did the harm stop?

    The sources reviewed do not say.

    Who paid?

    The Shipowners' Club and the 1992 Fund paid PHP 2.71bn, according to IOPC document NOV25/3/12.

    Sources

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

    Government and regulators

    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.
    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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