Bow Jubail

Pollution context

On 23 June 2018, at 1:40 PM local time, during a mooring manoeuvre, the tanker Bow Jubail allided with a jetty in the port of Rotterdam (Netherlands), causing a breach in the starboard side of the ship's hull. Although the tanker was unladed at the time of the allision, one of its fuel tanks was hit, resulting in the release of approximately 217 tonnes of heavy fuel oil into the port waters. Immediate measures were taken by the crew and shore-based personnel to mitigate the spill. Odfjell immediately mobilised its emergency response team at its headquarters in Bergen to manage the situation. Gard, the P&I Club which insures the vessel, also mobilised resources.

The leak was stopped with no risk of further spills.

The oil spill contaminated port structures, including quays, jetties, riprap, and more than 100 vessels at the terminal were affected, mainly along their waterline.

A small amount of heavy fuel oil and oiled debris escaped from the harbour, causing limited contamination along the banks of the Nieuwe Maas.

On 26 June, the Bow Jubail was towed from its original berth to a shipyard for repair in the Botlek area. The vessel finally left Rotterdam on Saturday 7 July.

According to the investigation report, the incident was caused by an incorrectly issued rudder command, which led the ship to take the wrong direction. The bridge team realised this too late.

Spill response

The Port Authority and the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management were responsible for leading the spill response, which mainly consisted of containing the spill by deploying booms around the vessel. Oil recovery operations at the water surface resulted in the collection of approximately 160 tonnes, three days after the incident.

Numerous port structures (jetties, quays, riprap, moorings, etc.) were oiled, requiring clean-up actions in the following weeks, particularly through the use of pressure washing with hot water to remove the weathered heavy fuel oil. Several kilometres of riprap had to be replaced due to the persistence of the product.

Two hull washing areas for oiled vessels were also set up, allowing maritime traffic to quickly resume, thereby causing minimal disruption to port activities.

Waterways fall under the jurisdiction of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat), which also deployed its own resources for offshore response and shoreline clean-up operations.

Socio-economic and environmental impacts

Navigation channels in the vicinity of the accident were temporarily closed, momentarily disrupting activities within the port.

From an ecological perspective, 500 oiled swans were captured and rehabilitated before being released the following month, and about a thousand birds in total were oiled to varying degrees by the spill.

Compensation

Odfjell had announced that it would take responsibility for all clean-up costs "up to the maximum of its legal liability," while the entire clean-up operation was estimated at 80 million euros by the Port Authority.

At the time of the accident, the Bow Jubail was in ballast and the oil spilled was bunker oil. During its previous voyage from Houston to Rotterdam via Antwerp, the Bow Jubail carried "oil" as mentioned in the 1992 CLC. Its shipowner had declared the tanks free of cargo residues at the time of the incident.

To limit its liability and costs, the owner applied before the Rotterdam District Court for leave to limit its liability in accordance with the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, 1976 as modified by the 1996 Protocol (LLMC 76/96), under Article 1.8 of the Bunkers Convention 2001.

The legal proceedings for this case lasted more than six years. This is a unique case in the Netherlands regarding the responsibilities and conventions concerned.

In November 2018, the Rotterdam District Court ruled that the owner had not proven that the tanker did not contain persistent oil residues at the time of the accident and therefore considered the Bow Jubail to be a ship within the meaning of the definition of the 1992 Civil Liability Convention (CLC) and thus did not grant authorisation to limit its liability under the Bunkers Convention 2001.

On 27 October 2020, the Hague Court of Appeal rendered its judgment confirming this decision of the Rotterdam District Court. The shipowner then appealed the judgment to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, and the IOPC Funds (1992 Fund) applied to join the shipowner in the appeal proceedings. This was granted in December 2021 by the Supreme Court.

In 2021, the ship's captain was fined 1,000 euros.
Legal actions were also brought by several (25) claimants before the Rotterdam District Court against the shipowner, its insurer, and other parties.

The Bow Jubail was finally judged in 2022 as a ship within the meaning of the 1992 Civil Liability Convention. Consequently, the IOPC Funds (1992 Fund) were able to provide additional compensation beyond the shipowners' liability limit.