Most Yacht policies provide Pollution Liability, either by including it within the limit of the Protection & Indemnity section of the policy, or by providing a specific limit of liability. On the other hand, fines and penalties resulting from this exposure are almost always excluded by the Yacht policy.
The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) requires that any vessel over 300 gross tons provide evidence of financial responsibility – via bond, self insurance, financial guaranty, or insurance – to the U.S. Coast Guard for pollution cleanup prior to navigating U.S. waters.
It is important to note that, while OPA 90 does not require vessels under 300 gross tons to provide evidence of financial responsibility, it does not relieve the owner of the responsibility for cleanup after a spill, nor the payment of potential penalties that may be imposed. For this reason we strongly recommend the purchase of a separate Pollution Liability policy, which is available through the Water Quality Insurance Syndicate (WQIS).
WQIS is one of a handful of insurers approved by the U.S. Coast Guard, and is the largest underwriter of marine pollution coverage in the U.S. Their policy includes coverage for certain limited U.S. civil penalties as imposed by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, which are otherwise excluded under the Yacht policy.
When a pollution policy is purchased through WQIS the owner has the added benefit of the insurer’s spill response management services provided by the Marine Pollution Response Team (MPRT). The primary goal of MPRT is to maintain control of the pollution response effort to reduce cleanup costs for the vessel owner. MPRT’s knowledge of the applicable pollution laws and regulations, and expertise at spill response are invaluable to the yacht owner. Furthermore, their services are available to policyholders 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
When a separate pollution liability policy is in force, the Yacht policy’s pollution coverage would become EXCESS over the WQIS policy.