External Relations

The Secretariat undertakes a wide variety of activities aimed at strengthening the IOPC Funds’ relationship with Member States, encouraging the worldwide adoption and understanding of the international regime for oil pollution compensation and assisting potential claimants.

It offers a variety of training activities. These include a number of regular events, such as a week-long annual academy (see below) and a half-day induction course for Member State representatives, which is held immediately prior to the October/November sessions of the governing bodies. The Director hosts informal regional lunch meetings for London-based representatives of Member and non-Member States during the course of the year and the Secretariat also organises or contributes to national and regional workshops upon request for both Member and non-Member States directly.  It also offers short, targeted online training sessions for those State representatives working on specific areas of work relating to the IOPC Funds, such as oil reporting and contributions.

The IOPC Funds are continuing with the third module of the organisation’s webinar series, which will focus on claims for compensation, with the next session entitled “Key steps to a successful claim”, set to take place on 15 May 2024.  Following the format of the entire series, this event will consist of a short 15‐minute presentation, followed by 15 minutes of questions.

The webinar series, which is being delivered initially in English only, is open to any interested party and participants can opt to attend either the full series or only those webinars of particular interest to them.   Divided into four modules the full programme (available here) consists of a total of 11 webinars covering everything from the basic understanding of the Conventions, to the financing of the system, the types of claims that arise from tanker incidents and the claims submission process.

This session will provide an overview of the claims process in the event of an oil pollution incident. It will highlight the criteria for assessing claims and the need for claimants to submit the right supporting documentation.

To accommodate participants from different time zones, this session will be conducted at two separate times.

Please register for the session here.

The Secretariat regularly contributes to events organised by fellow organisations and stakeholders to create awareness and promote better understanding of the role of the IOPC Funds. It gives presentations at conferences and regularly gives lectures to students of maritime law from various universities.

Details of the key events attended by the Secretariat are set out on the map below and under the News and Events section. Future activities are detailed under the Upcoming Events page.

For further information on any of the activities described above or to discuss any training or support requirements please email: outreach@iopcfunds.org.

IOPC Funds Annual Academy

The IOPC Funds organises an Annual Academy, which usually takes place at the organisation’s headquarters in London. The week-long programme covers all aspects of the work of the IOPC Funds and the international liability and compensation regime. The Annual Academy in 2024 will be delivered in person, in London from Monday, 17 June to Friday, 21 June 2024.

Applications must be submitted by the online form which is available here.

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2024