Article 20c Financial security and compensationF1

The absence of an insurance certificate within the meaning of Article 6 of Directive 2009/20/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the insurance of shipowners for maritime claims ^f1 shall not exonerate a Member State from the preliminary assessment and decision referred to in Article 20b, and shall not in itself be considered sufficient reason for a Member State to refuse to accommodate a ship in a place of refuge.

Without prejudice to paragraph 1, when accommodating a ship in a place of refuge, a Member State may request the ship's operator, agent or master to present a insurance certificate within the meaning of Article 6 of Directive 2009/20/EC. The act of requesting the certificate shall not lead to a delay in accommodating the ship.