Saturday, April 12, 2008

ISU_ Fresh Thinking Needed on Rewards for Salvage and Pollution Prevention

Friday, April 11, 2008
International Salvage Union (ISU) President Arnold Witte had called on all sectors of the shipping and insurance industries to approach the issue of salvage and spill prevention with “fresh thinking and open minds.” Speaking at the ISU’s Associate Members’ Day conference in London on April 2, he said the cost of failure to prevent pollution can run into billions. Against this background he urged the P&I community –responsible for payment of pollution claims – to accept that new approaches to reward for salvage and spill prevention have a significant role to play in reducing the financial impact of pollution claims and, at the same time, contributing to lower levels of ecological and economic damage. Many shipowners as well as the P& I Clubs do not accept that there is any case for an Environmental Salvage Award. We will be working privately and, hopefully, with some intensity in the coming months with the P& I Clubs, as well as owners and property insurers, to convince them that there is a more beneficial approach to environmental issues.

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