2023 Begins With Increased (or Unlimited) Liability For Vessel Owners

• Jurisdiction: United States,Federal
• Law Firm: Liskow & Lewis
• Subject Matter: Environment, Transport, Energy and Natural Resources, Energy Law, Environmental Law, Oil, Gas & Electricity, Marine/ Shipping, Clean Air / Pollution
• Author: Ben Allums and David Reisman
• Published date: 02 February 2023

A Regulatory Increase to the Limits of Liability for Oil Pollution and an Amendment Exempting Small Passenger Vessels from the Limitation of Liability Act Present New Challenges for Vessel Owners

U.S. maritime law experienced two significant changes on December 23, 2022-one pertaining to liability for oil pollution, the other concerning small passenger vessels.

First, the Coast Guard announced¹ increases to the liability limits in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 ("OPA").² OPA, which was passed in response to the 1989 oil spill from the EXXON VALDEZ in Alaska, makes the "responsible party" of any vessel or facility that discharges (or substantially threatens to discharge) oil into navigable waters strictly liable for removal costs and damages.³ When the source of the discharge is a vessel, the "responsible party" is the owner, operator, or demise charterer of that vessel.⁴ OPA liability is capped, however, subject to certain exceptions.⁵

The Coast Guard periodically adjusts OPA's liability limits to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index ("CPI").⁶ The last CPI adjustment occurred in 2019. The present adjustment increases by 7.91% the liability limits for vessels, deepwater ports, and onshore facilities, as reflected in the table below:

Source Original OPA Limit (set in 1990)⁷ Current CPI-Adjusted Limit (set in 2019)⁸ New CPI-Adjusted Limit (effective 3/23/23)⁹

Vessels

Single-hull tank vessel greater than; 3,000 gross tons ("GT")	Greater of $3,000 per GT; or $22,000,000	Greater of $3,700 per GT or $27,422,200	Greater of $4,000 per GT or $29,591,300
Double-hull tank vessel greater than; 3,000 GT	Greater of $1,900 per GT; or $16,000,000	Greater of $2,300 per GT or $19,943,400	Greater of $2,500 per GT or $21,521,000
Single-hull tank vessel less than or; equal to 3,000 GT	Greater of $3,000 per GT; or $6,000,000	Greater of $3,700 per GT or $7,478,800	Greater of $4,000 per GT or $8,070,400
Double-hull tank vessel less than or; equal to 3,000 GT	Greater of $1,900 per GT; or $4,000,000	Greater of $2,300 per GT or $4,985,900	Greater of $2,500 per GT or $5,380,300
Any other vessel (including any edible oil tank vessel or oil spill response vessel)	Greater of $950 per GT; or $800,000	Greater of $1,200 per GT or $997,100	Greater of $1,300 per GT or $1,076,000

Deepwater Parts

Deepwater port, including component; pipelines, other than Louisiana; Offshore Oil Port	$350,000,000	$672,514,900	$725,710,800
Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, including component pipelines	-------

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