Erika judgment 16 January 2008

Trial judge Jean-Baptiste Parlos,Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance

Investigating magistrate Dominique de Talancé

Parts / Notes / Pollution charges / Charge of endangering lives etc / Damages
Rina, successor of Registro Navale Italiano / Invoked immunity
Not responsible as successor / € 375,000
Guilty of errors of surveyor
P. 210 / Yes
TOTAL, charterer / € 375,000
p. 214 / Yes
Giuseppe Savarese, head of Tevere Shipping (owner) / € 75,000
p. 208 / Yes
Antonio Pollara,
head of Panship Management (technical manager) / € 75,000
p. 208 (and 224) / Yes
Malta, flag state / Immunity
Capt Karun Mathur / Acquitted
Pp. 219
and 224
4 navy & coast guard officers / Acquitted
P. 232
Gianpiero Ponasso, former RINA fleet operations manage / Invoked immunity / Acquitted
p. 209
Bertrand Thouilin, shipping manager, Total / Acquitted, respondeat superior
p. 214
Mauro Clemente, Erika’s technical manager / Acquitted
p. 209
If he didn’t someone else would
Alessandro Ducci, Erika’s technical manager / Acquitted
p. 209
If he didn’t someone else would
Mr Costigliola, Panship superintendent / Not prosecuted for supervision of repair works
Mr Patane, Registro Italiano Navale inspector / Not prosecuted for supervision of repair works
TTC, Total subsidiary that chartered the vessel / Acquitted
p. 214
TPS, Total subsidiary that chartered the vessel / Acquitted
p. 214

Erika timeline (from TradeWinds)

  • 12 December 1999 The 37,000-dwt Erika (built 1975) breaks in two and sinks in Bay of Biscay off France, spilling 20,000 tonnes of oil. Clean-up begins.
  • 2000 Secondary cleaning continues
  • 14 March 2000 Nantes court opens limitation proceedings at request of shipowner Tevere Shipping. Amount set at EUR 12.84m ($18.96m).
  • June to September 2000 Removal of oil from two sections of wreck – funded by charterer Total. Tanker masters face tougher French penalties for oil dumping
  • July 2000 IOPCF decides fund payments should be limited to 50% of losses suffered by claimants. New ship reporting scheme for English Channel in wake of disaster
  • September 2000 Flag state Malta issues report into sinking, blaming corrosion, cracking and local failure, vulnerabilities in the design of the ship, and the prevailing sea conditions
  • Spring 2001 Clean up of residual contamination begins
  • June 2001 IOPCF increases payment limit to 60%
  • November 2001 Secondary clean-up completed at Morbihan islands and Loire Atlantique
  • 2002 Limitation fund transferred from Nantes to Rennes.
  • 11 December 2002 IOPCF brings civil action against shipowner and Total, as well as Bureau Veritas, which had inspected Erika before the handover to RINA
  • April 2003 IOPCF increases limit to 100% of losses
  • December 2003 Charterer Total’s efforts to dispose of recovered waste completed at cost of EUR 46m. IOPCF makes EUR 10.1m payment to French government for tourism claims
  • October 2004 IOPCF hands over further EUR 6m to French for fisheries claims.
  • December 2004 EU to sue UK, Greece and eight other countries for failing to introduce safety legislation adopted after Erika
  • November 2005 French court panel finds thickness of Erika’s steel structures below permissible level when class society RINA took over the ship
  • December 2005 IOPCF makes another EUR 15m for clean-up costs
  • 2006 Limitation fund moved to Saint-Brieuc
  • March 2006 Erika trial date set for October 2006
  • October 2006 IOPCF makes another EUR 10m payment to France for clean-up operations
  • 31 December 2006 Out-of-court settlements reached with 440 claimants against shipowner, IOPCF and Steamship Mutual
  • 13 February 2007 Erika trial begins in France
  • May 2007 Erika master Karun Mathur reportedly set to sue RINA
  • June 2007 Erika trial ends
  • 16 January 2008 Verdicts