501 



the Liability Convention as limited pursuant to Article V, para- 

 graph 1, of that Convention or under the terms of any other 

 international Convention in force or open for siij:nature, ratifica- 

 tion or iK'cession at the date of this Convention. 

 Expenses r(>iisonably incurred or sacrifices reasonably made by the 

 owner voluntarily to prevent or minimize ])ollution clamage shall be 

 treated ns pollution damage for the purposes of tliis Article. 



2. The Fund shall incur no obligation under the preceding i)aragr!iph 

 if: 



(a) it i)roves tliat tlie ])ollut.ion dnnuvge resulted from an act of 

 war, hostilities, civil war or insurrection or \vas caused by oil 

 which has escaped or been discharged fron\ a warship or other 

 ship owned or operated by a State and used, at the time of the 

 incident, oidy on Government noncommercial service; or ' \ 



(b) the claimant caimot ])rove that the damage residted from 

 an incident involving one or moi-e ships. 



3. If the Fund proves that the pollution damage resulted ^vholly or 

 partially cither from an act or omission done with intent to cause 

 damage by the person who suffered the damage or from the negligence 

 of that person, the Fund ma}' be exonerated wholly or partially from 

 its obligation to pay compensation to such person provided, however, 

 that there shall be no such exoneration with regard to such i)reventive 

 measures which are compensated under paragraph 1. The Fund shall 

 in any event be exonerated to the extent that the shipowner may have 

 been exonerated under Article III, paragraph 3, of the Liability 

 Convention. 



4. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph (b) of this 

 paragraph, the aggregate amount of compensation payable by the 

 Fund under this Article shall in respect of any one incident be limited, 

 so that the total sum of that amount and the amount of compensation 

 actually paid under the Liability Convention for pollution damage 

 caused in the territory of the Contracting States, including any sums 

 in respect of which the Fund is under an obligation to indemnify the 

 owner pursuant to Article 5, paragraph 1, of this Convention, shall 

 not exceed 450 million francs. 



(b) The aggregate amount of compensation i)ayable by the Fund 

 under this Article for pollution damage resulting from a natural 

 phenomenon of an exceptional, inevitable and irresistible character 

 shall not exceed 450 million francs. 



5. Where the amount of established claims against the Fund exceeds 

 the aggregate amount of compensation payable under [)aragrai)h 4, 

 the amount available shall be distributed in such a manner that the 

 proportion between any established claim and the amount of compen- 

 sation actually recovered by the claimant under the Liability Con- 

 vention and this Convention shall be the same for all claimants. 



6. The Assembly of the Fund (hereinafter referred to as "the 

 Assembly") may, leaving regard to the exi)erience of incidents which 

 have occurred and in particular the amount of damage resulting 

 therefrom and to changes in the monetary values, decide that the 

 amount of 450 million francos referred to in paragraph 4, sub-para- 

 graphs (a) and (b), shall be changed; provided, however, that this 

 amount shall in no case exceed 900 million francs or be lower than 



35-415 O - 75 - 33 



