(a) The owner or operator of a vessel or offshore facility shall establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility by obtaining a Certificate of Financial Responsibility issued by the United States Coast Guard pursuant to the requirements of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), 33 U.S.C. § 2701, et seq., and regulations promulgated thereunder, enacted as of June 6, 2013. An owner or operator of a vessel or offshore facility that is not required by OPA to establish and maintain such evidence of financial responsibility shall be exempt from the requirements of this subsection, and from subsections (b) and (c) of this section. (b) The master or operator of any vessel or offshore facility subject to this chapter shall have in his or her possession at all times certification that the financial responsibility provisions of this section have been complied with. Pilots of vessels holding a license issued by the State shall demand that such certification of financial responsibility be produced before providing any pilot service to said vessel. (c) The owner or operator of any vessel or offshore facility subject to this chapter who, upon request, does not produce a COFR issued by the United States Coast Guard pursuant to OPA shall be punished by a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $15,000 for each such violation. (d) Any claim authorized by § 6207 of this title may be asserted directly against any guarantor providing evidence of financial responsibility as required by the United States Coast Guard pursuant to OPA. In defending such claim, the guarantor shall be entitled to invoke all rights and defenses which would be available to the owner or operator under this title. He or she shall also be entitled to invoke the defense that the incident was caused by the wilful misconduct of the owner or operator, but shall not be entitled to invoke any other defense which he or she might have been entitled to invoke in proceedings brought by the owner or operator against him or her.
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