The representatives of the federal government and Insurance Group P and I Club, met here on Tuesday to discuss the compensation issue for the victims of a Greek oil tanker, which caused massive environment pollution at Karachi Port in September last year.
Federal Communication Minister Babar Khan Ghouri led a six-member delegation at the talks with P and I Club at the first ever meeting between the two sides.
The P and I Club representatives were convinced of the losses caused due to sinking of Tasman Spirit, Ghouri told APP after the meeting.
Other members of the delegation include K. B Rind, a senior official of the Communication Ministry, Admiral Nauman Basit of the Karachi Port Trust (KPT), KPT General Manager Brigadier Zaidi, MNA Dr Farooq Sattar and Senator Anisa Zaib Tahirkheli.
The Greek oil tanker had run aground at the Karachi Harbour in September last year, causing massive marine and environmental pollution at the coastline.
The P and I Club and representatives of other companies promised to give compensation to the victims after settlement of the details following further talks among the stakeholders.
It took the two sides eight months to remove various legal and technical hiccups to begin the compensation talks, which began at a very positive note, the minister said.
"Our efforts are to make up the losses as soon as possible," Ghouri said and hoped that the compensation issue would be resolved soon.
He said the meeting with the secretary general of International Maritime Organisation (IMO) was very useful.
The IMO official also assured the minister that it would help Pakistan in upgrading its Marine Academy by providing latest equipment to avoid such incidents in future.
Meanwhile, MNA Dr Farooq Sattar, who was heading a high-powered Tasman Spirit Affairs Committee to prepare suggestions to solve the compensation issue, said that the meeting concluded with a note that the compensation issue should be resolved on humanitarian basis.
It also agreed that the international laws should not be strictly applied in case of the Tasman Spirit as it affected the common man, vendors, fishermen, businessmen and residents at the coastline due to oil spillage.
Dr Farooq said as Pakistan was neither member of the Civil Liberty Corporation nor International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund, hence, its legal position to claim compensation was very weak.
He said Islamabad secured a moral edge when it decided to release eight member crew of Tasman Spirit which created a lot of goodwill for its case for compensation.
He said after this meeting, the stakeholders were expected to hold another meeting in Karachi within two months when representatives of P and I Club and other concerned companies would visit the city.
The compensation cases of Karachi Port Trust, Defence Housing Authority Karachi and all those affected by pollution of Tasman Spirit would be sent to P and I Club for consideration, Farooq Sattar said.
He said representatives of P and I Club expressed their willingness to consider both short- and long-term compensation to settle the claims of small and major claimants, but its details would be determined after further discussion among the stakeholders.
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