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 · Pakistan · 2003–2004

Tasman Spirit oil spill (Pakistan)

Nature's voice · report
Listed as 27–30,000 t 27,000 tonnes of oil entered my waters. not independently verified
Figure as listed for the incident; what it measures is not specified.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 3 insufficient · 3 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps

An oil spill at Karachi in July 2003 in a country that was not a member of the IOPC Funds. The ship's insurer declined to discuss compensation until the crew was released, after nine months in detention.

US$1bn (another report: US$10bn)Government demand reported
Reported demand; a final settlement was not found in the sources reviewed.

Status As of the latest material reviewed: the crew had been released on 14 April 2004; no final settlement was found.

What?
An oil-spill incident involving the tanker Tasman Spirit at Karachi, followed by a dispute over compensation and the detention of the crew.
Where?
Karachi, Pakistan.
When?
27 July 2003; crew released 14 April 2004.
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
  • The crew — Held for nine months.
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
The insurer declined to discuss compensation until the crew was released; Pakistan was outside the IOPC Funds regime.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The Tasman Spirit incident took place at Karachi, Pakistan, on 27 July 2003. A list of oil-spill cases gives the figure for the incident as 27–30,000 t; the list does not say what the figure measures.

Pakistan was not a member of the IOPC Funds, so the international fund regime did not apply to the incident.

The ship's insurer, the American Club, was reported to have refused to discuss compensation until the crew was released. The crew was held for nine months and was released on 14 April 2004. The Pakistani government's demand was reported at US$1bn; another report gave US$10bn. A final settlement was not found in the sources reviewed.

  1. 200327 July: Tasman Spirit incident at Karachi
  2. 200414 April: crew released after about nine months in detention

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“steadfastly refused to discuss compensation until the crew has been released”

Cedre / Dawn, describing the position of the American Club (the ship's insurer) · 2003–2004

Where accounts differ

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

How large was the government's compensation demand?
Press and investigations
One report

The government demand was US$1bn.

Press and investigations
Another report

The government demand was US$10bn.

Could compensation be negotiated while the crew was held?
Company or project
American Club (as reported by Cedre / Dawn)

Refused to discuss compensation until the crew was released.

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • Pakistan was not a member of the IOPC Funds at the time of the incident.
    • The crew was held for nine months and released on 14 April 2004.
    • The government demand was reported at US$1bn; another report gave US$10bn.
    • The final settlement was not found.

    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: USD · Window: 2003–2004. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

    Responses on record

    • american-club (2003–2004): Reported as having refused to discuss compensation until the crew had been released.

    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

    1. 2003No policy found
      American Club → Owner of the Tasman Spirit (not named in the sources reviewed)
      Stated reason: Reported refusal to discuss compensation until the crew was released.

      The insurer was reported to have declined to discuss compensation until the crew was freed; the crew was released on 14 April 2004. The final outcome of the claim was not found.

    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.

    Reported government demand
    US$1bn
    Another report gives US$10bn; no final settlement found
    Crew detention
    9 months
    Released 14 April 2004

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
    No independent ecological evaluationKey earnings undisclosed

    Insurers

    • Unclear American Club: no decision on record.

    Figures

    • Insufficient Insurance claim: Government demand as reported; another report gives US$10bn.
    • Insufficient Oil spilled (tonnes): Figure as listed for the incident; what it measures is not specified.

    Accounts

    • Disputed How large was the government's compensation demand?
    • Disputed Could compensation be negotiated while the crew was held?

    Record

    • None on record Final settlement: none found in the sources reviewed.
    • Disputed The reported government demand differs between reports: US$1bn in one, US$10bn in another.
    • Insufficient What the figure '27–30,000 t' measures is not specified in the material reviewed (reported but not independently verified as quantity spilled).

    Did the harm stop?

    Not recorded in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not established: a final settlement was not found.

    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

    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.

    Law and courts

    Arbitration
    A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.
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