Pollution claims have proved historically to be complex, costly, time-consuming and politically and socially sensitive. There is a natural inclination on the part of both private claimants and governmental agencies to “make the polluter pay”. Whilst the question of liability was historically based heavily on purely legal principles,2 the emphasis has moved until recently3 towards treating the problem as an economic one, that is to say, how best to distribute the costs between the interested parties. Consequently, claimants have sought to pursue claims against any party that is potentially liable - particularly if that party has the funds that may be necessary to satisfy claims either in toto or in part. In many instances, the charterer may seem to be a more attractive target than the shipowner, particularly when pollution has been caused by a vessel that is chartered to one of the oil majors or large trading houses. Such a vulnerability has an economic impact in that charterers are obliged to consider their potential liability when assessing their overall business costs and the extent to which such costs can be passed on to other parties such as the owners of the cargo (assuming that the cargo is not owned by the charterers themselves).