KARACHI, Dec 2: The reported communication gap between the Pakistani authorities and the American P&I Club has been delaying the “prompt availability” of compensation funds to the quarters affected by Tasman Spirit disaster.

The protection and indemnity insurers of the broken foreign oil tanker have already paid about six million dollars for oil response and beach cleaning operations in Karachi. They are ready to pay further compensations to those suffered genuine hardship, irrespective of the fact that Pakistan ratifies the 1992 Civil Liability Convention (for oil pollution and damages) or not.

During a talk with Dawn, the spokesman for the P&I Club, Nicholas Brown, maintained that despite approaching the Pakistani authorities, the Club was not being provided a ground to arrange for immediate assessment and payment of compensations.

“We are ready to work, even not requiring Pakistan to ratify the CLC, but, there is need to reach an agreement with the government of Pakistan, calling it to adopt CLC 1992 framework to handle the situation and address the grievances of affected people or their groups in the country,” said Mr Brown.

He said that the Club was ready to provide the fund required for the scientific analysis of the devastation caused to natural resources, but the Pakistani authorities neither accepted the offer nor rejected it formally.

Mr Brown said that irrespective of the fact that who was going to be held responsible for the ship grounding and spillage events, an accumulated amount to the tune of US $42 million could be made available to the claimants, who could demonstrate their loss, provided Islamabad agreed for the establishment of a practical compensation framework.