Company: CMRE-PC
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001140361-25-005199
Chunk: 109

Company: Costamare Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 4
Chunk 109
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 hundred nautical mile exclusive economic zone. While we do not carry oil as cargo, we do carry fuel in our containerships, making them subject to the requirements of OPA 90.
 
Under OPA 90, vessel owners, operators and bareboat charterers are “responsible parties” and are jointly, severally and strictly liable (unless the discharge of pollutants results solely from the act or omission of a third party, an act of God or an act of war) for all containment and clean-up costs and other damages arising from discharges or threatened discharges of pollutants from their vessels, including bunkers. OPA 90 defines these other damages broadly to include:
 

•   natural resource damages and the costs of assessment thereof;
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•   real and personal property damage;
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•   net loss of taxes, royalties, rents, fees and other lost revenues;
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•   lost profits or impairment of earning capacity due to property or natural resource damages; and
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•   net cost of public services necessitated by a spill response, such as protection from fire, safety or health hazards, and loss of subsistence use of natural resources.
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OPA 90 preserves the right to recover damages under other existing laws, including maritime tort law.
 
Effective March 23, 2023, the OPA liability limitation under U.S. Coast Guard regulations was increased to the greater of $1,300 per gross ton or $1,076,000 per incident for non-tank vessels, subject to periodic future adjustments of such limits. These limitations of liability do not apply if an incident was directly caused by violation of applicable U.S. safety, construction or operating regulations or by a responsible party’s gross negligence or willful misconduct, or if the responsible party fails or refuses to report the incident or to cooperate and assist in connection with oil removal activities.
 
The U.S. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”) applies to spills or releases of hazardous substances other than petroleum or petroleum products whether on land or at sea. CERCLA imposes joint and several liability, without regard to fault, on the owner or operator of a vessel, vehicle or facility from which there has been a release, along with other specified parties. Costs recoverable under CERCLA include cleanup and removal costs, natural resource damages and governmental oversight costs. Liability under CERCLA is generally limited to the greater of $300 per gross ton or $5.0