SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: José Antonio Domínguez, Mikel Garteiz-Goxeaskoa, Enrique Ortiz and Irantzu Sedano Beitia, Aiyon Abogados SLP
3. Marine Casualties and Owners’ Liability 3.1 International Conventions: Pollution and Wreck Removal Spain is a member state of: • the 1992 International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (CLC Convention); • the 1992 International Convention on the Establish - ment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage (IOPC Fund); • the 2003 Supplementary Fund Protocol; and • the 2001 International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage (BUNKER). The civil liability of owners and interested parties in the event of pollution is also regulated by the SSA, although the application of the above-mentioned Conventions is preferential over domestic law. Arti - cles 386, 388, 389 and 391 of the SSA regulate a strict liability regime for the owner of the polluting vessel, its right to limit liability and its obligation to take out civil liability insurance covering liability for pollution. As for wreck removal, Spain is not a party to the International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks (the “2015 Nairobi Convention”). Accordingly, wreck removal is regulated by Articles 369 to 383 of the SSA and by Article 304 of the Spanish State Ports and Merchant Navy Act. Spanish domestic law establishes owners’ direct lia - bility for wreck removal and provides that the admin - istration costs arising from wreck-removal activities are privileged. Owners do not have a right to limit liability under the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims (LLMC 76/96) in accordance with the Reservation made by Spain to this Convention for wreck-removal claims. 3.2 International Conventions: Collision and Salvage Regulation of Collisions Collisions are regulated by the 1910 Collision Con - vention and other related Conventions, such as the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules relating to Penal Jurisdiction in the matter of
Collisions or other Incidents of Navigation, made in Brussels in 1952, or the 1972 International Regula - tions for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs). In Spanish domestic law, collisions are regulated in Arti - cles 339 to 346 of the SSA. Regulation of Salvage Salvage is regulated by the 1989 International Con - vention on Salvage and Articles 357 to 368 of the SSA. 3.3 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims Setting aside specific liability regimes to be applied in Spain, such as the Hague–Visby Rules, the CLC, the Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passen - gers and their Luggage by Sea of 13 December 1974 (the “Athens Convention”), BUNKER, etc, owners are entitled to limit their liability in accordance with the 1976 International Convention on Limitation of Liabil - ity and its 1996 Protocol. The SSA grants ship-owners and carriers the right to opt for the application of the LLMC 76/96 limit or the applicable specific limit. The SSA also regulates the limitation of liability in Arti - cles 392 to 405, referring to the LLMC 76/96 as the applicable regime. 3.4 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties The recent judgment of the UK Supreme Court in MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA v Conti 11 Container Schiffahrts-GmbH & Co KG MS “MSC Flaminia” highlights the structural importance of the rules on treaty interpretation laid down in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties as an essential instrument for ensuring a uniform, coherent and internationally consistent interpretation of multi - lateral conventions, particularly in highly harmonised fields such as maritime law. In the Spanish jurisdiction, the Vienna Convention is fully applicable. Spain acceded to the Convention in 1972, and it entered into force in 1980. Accordingly, the provisions of the Vienna Convention have norma - tive status and binding force, and are not confined to a mere interpretative or doctrinal role. In this context, the general rules of treaty interpreta - tion set out in Articles 31 to 33 of the Vienna Conven -
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