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Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Oil spill · United Kingdom · 1996

Liberian-flagged vessel Sea Empress spills oil at Milford Haven, Wales, in 1996

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

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 none on record · 1 not measured See the gaps

The Liberian-flagged vessel Sea Empress spilled oil at Milford Haven in February 1996. The sources reviewed record the compensation figure but not the damage to the coast or wildlife.

What?
A Liberian-flagged vessel, the Sea Empress, spilled oil at Milford Haven, Wales, in 1996. IOPC Funds
Where?
Milford Haven, Wales, United Kingdom IOPC Funds
When?
15 February 1996 IOPC Funds
Who?
Gained
  • Claimants — compensation of £36.8 million recorded in the IOPC table IOPC Funds
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The sources reviewed do not state the cause.
How?
The sources reviewed do not describe how the oil was released.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

According to the IOPC Funds document, the Liberian-flagged vessel Sea Empress, of 72,360 tonnes, spilled oil at Milford Haven on 15 February 1996.

The same document records a limit of £7.4 million under the Civil Liability Convention (CLC) and compensation of £36.8 million in its table.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

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

    Record

    • None on record The sources reviewed do not say what caused the release, or describe damage to the shore, wildlife or habitats.
    • None on record The owner and charterer of the vessel are not stated.
    • None on record The sources do not say which claims the £36.8 million covers or whether it is the final total.
    • None on record Who gained, lost or was harmed is not stated beyond the compensation figure.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

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

    Press and investigations

    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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