Signatories to the main oil pollution liability conventions should be enforcing strict insurance requirements on the growing “dark fleet” of tankers to reduce the risk of an environmental disaster, according to a leading industry figure.

Gaute Sivertsen, director of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds), said that port and flag state signatories to the International Maritime Organization’s International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (CLC) had a responsibility to act against ships without valid insurance.