Fishermen from Shandong and Tianjin File Application for Compensation Mediation with ConocoPhillips China and CNOOC
Fishermen from Shandong and Tianjin File Application for Compensation Mediation with ConocoPhillips China and CNOOC
On 8th June, World Oceans Day 42 fishermen and fish farms, and one Villagers Committee, authorized lawyers to file an application to the Tianjin Maritime Mediation Center of China Maritime Arbitration Committee for civil claim mediation with ConocoPhillips China and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). The Tianjin Maritime Mediation Center of China Maritime Arbitration Committee has accepted the case and said they would, following their procedures, send an Application for Mediation to ConocoPhillips China and CNOOC.
Two years ago a serious oil spill occurred in the Penglai 19-3 Oilfield in Bohai Bay being jointly developed by ConocoPhillips China and CNOOC. The oil spill polluted more than 6,200 square kilometers of the marine area. The fishermen and fish farms in Shandong Province, Tianjin Province, Hebei Province and Liaoning Province suffered tremendous loss from the pollution, and these losses are still continuing.. However ConocoPhillips China refused to compensate the fishermen and fish farms in Shandong Province and Tianjin, alleging that the oil fingerprint authentication was inconsistent..
Some of the fishermen filed lawsuits with Tianjin Maritime Court and Qingdao Maritime Court but both courts refused to accept the cases. They then filed lawsuits in US courts but these actions also have, for various reasons, come to a standstill.
The fishermen and fish farms in Shandong Province and Tianjin have so far not obtained any compensation for their losses. With the approach of the deadline of the two years’ limitation of action as specified by Chinese law they have, with the aid of lawyers, turned to arbitration mediation for relief. According to the lawyers handling the case, Li Gang from Shandong Deheng Law Firm and Zhang Xingkuan from Beijing DHH Law Firm, if the respondents refuse to mediate all the coastal fishermen and fish farms around Bohai Bay will virtually lose all hope of any domestic claim for compensation. They hope that both ConocoPhillips China and CNOOC will sincerely face the liability they should bear and solve the remaining problems through mediation.