(a) The owner or operator of a vessel or offshore facility shall establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility by obtaining a Certificate of Financial Responsibility issued by the United States Coast Guard pursuant to the requirements of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), 33 U.S.C. § 2701, et seq., and regulations promulgated thereunder, enacted as of June 6, 2013. An owner or operator of a vessel or offshore facility that is not required by OPA to establish and maintain such evidence of financial responsibility shall be exempt from the requirements of this subsection, and from subsections (b) and (c) of this section.
(b) The master or operator of any vessel or offshore facility subject to this chapter shall have in his or her possession at all times certification that the financial responsibility provisions of this section have been complied with. Pilots of vessels holding a license issued by the State shall demand that such certification of financial responsibility be produced before providing any pilot service to said vessel.
(c) The owner or operator of any vessel or offshore facility subject to this chapter who, upon request, does not produce a COFR issued by the United States Coast Guard pursuant to OPA shall be punished by a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $15,000 for each such violation.
(d) Any claim authorized by § 6207 of this title may be asserted directly against any guarantor providing evidence of financial responsibility as required by the United States Coast Guard pursuant to OPA. In defending such claim, the guarantor shall be entitled to invoke all rights and defenses which would be available to the owner or operator under this title. He or she shall also be entitled to invoke the defense that the incident was caused by the wilful misconduct of the owner or operator, but shall not be entitled to invoke any other defense which he or she might have been entitled to invoke in proceedings brought by the owner or operator against him or her.
61 Del. Laws, c. 127, § 1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 79 Del. Laws, c. 38, § 3.
Copyright ©2024 LegalFix. All rights reserved. LegalFix is not a law firm, is not licensed to practice law, and does not provide legal advice, services, or representation. The information on this website is an overview of the legal plans you can purchase—or that may be provided by your employer as an employee benefit or by your credit union or other membership group as a membership benefit.
LegalFix provides its members with easy access to affordable legal services through a network of independent law firms. LegalFix, its corporate entity, and its officers, directors, employees, agents, and contractors do not provide legal advice, services, or representation—directly or indirectly.
The articles and information on the site are not legal advice and should not be relied upon—they are for information purposes only. You should become a LegalFix member to get legal services from one of our network law firms.
You should not disclose confidential or potentially incriminating information to LegalFix—you should only communicate such information to your network law firm.
The benefits and legal services described in the LegalFix legal plans are not always available in all states or with all plans. See the legal plan Benefit Overview and the more comprehensive legal plan contract during checkout for coverage details in your state.
Use of this website, the purchase of legal plans, and access to the LegalFix networks of law firms are subject to the LegalFix Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.