The author, Tormod Rafgård, has worked with tanker owners since 1965, and has now written the book “Tankers, big oil & pollution liability”. Rafgard has background as director of the international tanker owners’ association (INTERTANKO), and has served as a judge in the Court of Appeals. In these capacities he has witnessed the unwieldy and cumbersome development of an ever-more complex environmental liability structure, involving governmental agencies, oil companies, environmental protection groups, classification societies, P&I clubs, coastal states and the shipping industry. After accidents, they all scrambled to pin the blame on one party, while everyone else was seeking to disclaim responsibility.
