Protocol to the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage

Protocol to the International Convention on Civil 
Liability for Oil Pollution Damage 


(London, 19 November 1976) 

The Parties to the Present Protocol, 

Being Parties to the International Convention on Civil  
Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, done at Brussels on  
29 November 1969; 

Have agreed as follows: 


Article I 

For the purpose of the present Protocol: 

1. "Convention" means the International Convention on  
Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, 1969. 

2. "Organization" has the same meaning as in the  
Convention. 

3. "Secretary-General" means the Secretary-General of the  
Organization. 


Article II 

Article V of the Convention is amended as follows: 

(1) Paragraph 1 is replaced by the following text: 
"The owner of a ship shall be entitled to limit his  
liability under this Convention in respect of any one  
incident to an aggregate amount of 133 units of account  
for each ton of the ship's tonnage. However, this  
aggregate amount shall not in any event exceed 14 million  
units of account." 

(2) Paragraph 9 is replaced by the following text: 

9 (a) The "unit of account" referred to in paragraph 1 of  
this Article is the Special Drawing Right as defined by  
the International Monetary Fund. The amounts mentioned in  
paragraph 1 shall be converted into the national currency  
of the State in which the fund is being constituted on  
the basis of the value of that currency by reference to  
the Special Drawing Right on the date of the constitution  
of the fund. The value of the national currency in terms  
of the Special Drawing Right, of a Contracting State  
which is a member of the International Monetary Fund,  
shall be calculated in accordance with the method of  
valuation applied by the International Monetary Fund in  
effect at the date in question for its operations and  
transactions. The value of the national currency, in  
terms of the Special Drawing Right, of a Contracting  
State which is not a member of the International Monetary  
Fund, shall be calculated in a manner determined by that  
State. 

9 (b) Nevertheless, a Contracting State which is not a  
member of the International Monetary Fund and whose law  
does not permit the application of the provisions of  
paragraph 9 (a) of this Article may, at the time of  
ratification, acceptance, approval of or accession to the  
present Convention, or at any time thereafter, declare  
that the limits of liability provided for in paragraph 1  
to be applied in its territory shall, in respect of any  
one incident, be an aggregate of 2,000 monetary units for  
each ton of the ship's tonnage provided that this  
aggregate amount shall not in any event exceed 210  
million monetary units. The monetary unit referred to in  
this paragraph corresponds to sixty-five and a half  
milligrammes of gold of millesimal fineness nine hundred.  
The conversion of these amounts into the national  
currency shall be made according to the law of the State  
concerned. 

9 (c) The calculation mentioned in the last sentence of  
paragraph 9 (a) and the conversion mentioned in paragraph  
9 (b) shall be made in such a manner as to express in the  
national currency of the Contracting State as far as  
possible the same real value for the amounts in paragraph  
1 as is expressed there in units of account. Contracting  
States shall communicate to the depositary the manner of  
calculation pursuant to paragraph 9 (a), or the result of  
the conversion in paragraph (b) as the case may be, when  
depositing an instrument referred to in Article IV and  
whenever there is a change in either. 


Article III 

1. The present Protocol shall be open for signature by  
any State which has signed the Convention or acceded  
thereto and by any State invited to attend the Conference  
to Revise the Unit of Account Provisions of the  
Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage,  
l969, held in London from 17 to 19 November 1976. The  
Protocol shall be open for signature from 1 February 1977  
to 31 December 1977 at the Headquarters of the  
Organization. 

2. Subject to paragraph 4 of this Article, the present  
Protocol shall be subject to ratification, acceptance or  
approval by the States which have signed it. 

3. Subject to paragraph 4 of this Article, this Protocol  
shall be open for accession by States which did not sign  
it. 

4. The present Protocol may be ratified, accepted,  
approved or acceded to by States Parties to the  
Convention. 


Article IV 

1. Ratification, acceptance, approval or accession shall  
be effected by the deposit of a formal instrument to that  
effect with the Secretary-General. 

2. Any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval  
or accession deposited after the entry into force of an  
amendment to the present Protocol with respect to all  
existing Parties or after the completion of all measures  
required for the entry into force of the amendment with  
respect to all existing Parties, shall be deemed to apply  
to the Protocol as modified by the amendment. 


Article V 

1. The present Protocol shall enter into force for the  
States which have ratified, accepted, approved or acceded  
to it on the ninetieth day following the date on which  
eight States including five States each with not less  
than 1,000,000 gross tons of tanker tonnage have  
deposited instruments of ratification, acceptance,  
approval or accession with the Secretary-General. 

2. For each State which subsequently ratifies, accepts,  
approves or accedes to it, the present Protocol shall  
enter into force on the ninetieth day after the deposit  
by such State of the appropriate instrument. 


Article VI 

1. The present Protocol may be denounced by any Party at  
any time after the date on which the Protocol enters into  
force for that Party. 

2. Denunciation shall be effected by the deposit of an  
instrument to that effect with the Secretary-General. 

3. Denunciation shall take effect one year, or such  
longer period as may be specified in the instrument of  
denunciation, after its deposit with the Secretary- 
General. 


Article VII 

1. A Conference for the purpose of revising or amending  
the present Protocol may be convened by the Organization. 

2. The Organization shall convene a Conference of Parties  
to the present Protocol for the purpose of revising or  
amending it at the request of not less than one-third, of  
the Parties. 


Article VIII 

1. The present Protocol shall be deposited with the  
Secretary-General. 

2. The Secretary-General shall: 

(a) inform all States which have signed the present  
Protocol or acceded thereto of: 
(i) each new signature or deposit of an instrument  
together with the date thereof; 
(ii) the date of entry into force of the present  
Protocol; 
(iii) the deposit of any instrument of denunciation of  
the present Protocol together with the date on which the  
denunciation takes effect; 
(iv) any amendments to the present Protocol;            

(b) transmit certified true copies of the present  
Protocol to all States which have signed the present  
Protocol or acceded thereto. 


Article IX 

As soon as the present Protocol enters into force, a  
certified true copy thereof shall be transmitted by the  
Secretary-General to the Secretariat of the United  
Nations for registration and publication in accordance  
with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations. 


Article X 

The present Protocol is established in a single original  
in the English and French languages, both texts being  
equally authentic. Official translations in the Russian  
and Spanish languages shall be prepared and deposited  
with the signed original. 


Done at London this nineteenth day of November one  
thousand nine hundred and seventy-six. 


In Witness whereof the undersigned being duly authorized  
for that purpose have signed the present Protocol.