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Thursday, March 23,
2000
Here comes
EurOPA
The European Commission has announced a slew of proposals intended
to prevent further pollution disasters on European coastlines.
In a communication adopted earlier this
week, the Commission calls for
governments of the European Union (EU), the European Parliament
and EU industry to accept far-reaching proposals to reduce the
chances of accidents and pollution.
The Commission proposals seek to strengthen
existing EU legislation on Port State controls and classification
societies and to phase out single hull oil tankers in EU waters.
Commission Vice President in charge of
Transport and Energy, Mrs Loyola de Palacio, said: "I recognize
that the action we are recommending has cost implications for
Member States and for industry, but we have to strike a balance.
It is only when all the different parties accept their responsibility
and our rules are
enforced that we can maintain Europe's standards, minimize the
risk of damage to our environment and protect the interests of
all the European citizens."
On 12 December 1999, the oil tanker ERIKA,
a 25 year old, single-hull vessel under Maltese flag, broke in
two 40 miles off the coast of Brittany. More than 10,000 tons
of heavy oil were released into the sea, polluting 400 kilometres
of coast, gravely damaging flora and fauna, fishing and tourism.
This was not the first such disaster but it highlighted the need
for an enhanced control of safety on board oil-tankers at European
level. The Commission has proposed radical measures to try to
ensure that it is the last.
According to the Commission, "the
application of the current international legal framework including
IMO rules- falls short of providing an adequate response to maritime
safety." European Commission proposals following the 1978
Amoco Cadiz disaster resulted in the end simply in a number of
formal declarations and resolutions, with the exception of
one directive establishing minimum requirements for certain tankers.
Therefore, action to discourage use of old, technologically obsolete
and potentially unsafe ships and to enforce and reinforce the
present regulatory framework, particularly in terms of control
in Community ports, can significantly help. This is the approach
which the USA also took only one year after the Exxon Valdez
disaster in 1989.
STRICTER CONTROLS-AND A BAN: The Commission proposes, first, that control of
ships visiting Community ports should be reinforced and ships
not meeting the norms should be dealt with severely. Ships over
15 years of age should be banned from all Community ports if
they have been detained by Port State Control authorities more
than twice in the previous two years. The Commission will publish
a 'black list' every six months. Furthermore, for older ships,
port controls should systematically include inspection of ballast
tanks and ships should be required to report certain data before
entering a port so that inspections can be properly prepared.
Member States should, mainly through recruitment and training
of inspectors, commit themselves to control more ships more thoroughly
and to avoid the creation of 'ports of convenience.'
CLASSIFICATION SOCIETIES should be controlled more thoroughly. The Commission
may seek to suspend or revoke the authority of societies which
are negligent. In addition, more stringent quality criteria must
be met by the recognised organizations, including the obligation
to follow certain procedures when a ship changes class, such
as the transmission of the complete history file of the ship
to the new classification society.
SINGLE HULL PHASE OUT: The Commission proposes to ban oil tankers with
a single hull from EU waters. The same calendar will apply as
has been adopted in the U.S. (2005, 2010, 2015, according to
tonnage). It also strongly supports any endeavours aimed at achieving
this accelerated calendar at an international level as well.
It is recognized by the major shipbuilding associations that
for the foreseeable future there is sufficient building capacity
to cope with the increased demand for new double hull tankers
that will emerge from the Commission's proposal.
These three proposals form a coherent package,
not only for oil tankers but also other ships carrying dangerous
or polluting cargo. Information gathered during controls at each
port or during classification society checks will be disseminated
largely through the EQUASIS database, jointly created by the
European Commission and France, which will give a detailed description
of the ships at any moment and should contribute to establishing
the responsibility of each party in the event of anaccident.
In a second stage, later in the year, the
Commission envisages complementary proposals on :
Systematic exchange of information between
all the actors in the maritime community by further developing
the EQUASIS system in particular.
Improved surveillance of maritime navigation,
especially in the areas most frequented by oil tankers. Means
of controlling the most dangerous ships before they reach European
territorial waters should be studied.
The creation of a European structure for
Maritime Safety which should have responsibility for overseeing
the organization and effectiveness of national controls in order
to ensure greater uniformity.
While liability has, up to now, been laid
down in international conventions, the Commission intends to
work towards a supplementary collective indemnity regime, also
including the principle of liability of the carrier and the cargo
owner.
The reinforcement of maritime transport
safety cannot be seen in isolation. It includes understanding
rules which are often very technical and the need to strike the
right balance between the Union's environmental protection needs
and its industrial and international interests including its
ability to renew its fleet.
To avoid any further disasters like the
ERIKA, the Commission, without waiting for the proposed legislation
to be adopted, is calling on oil companies to enter into a voluntary
agreement not to charter tankers more than 15 years of age, unless
they are shown to be in satisfactory condition, and to take other
measures to improve safety.
Finally, the Commission notes that many
measures already adopted have not yet been correctly implemented
and comments that legal proceedings have been instigated in a
number of cases. It also deplores the widespread use of flags
of convenience, which means that, for example, a large part of
the fleet controlled by European companies flies the flags of
third countries for tax reasons. Finally it considers that it
should be a condition to the accession negotiations with Cyprus
and Malta that these countries apply the existing Community legislation
on Maritime Safety at the time of the accession.
A longer, larger Destiny
Carnival Corporation has signed a letter of intent with Italiy's
Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A. for the construction
of a new 110,000-grt vessel for its Carnival Cruise Lines unit.
The 2,974-passenger. 952 ft vessel, a longer and larger version
of Carnival's successful "Destiny-class," , will cost
approximately $500 million and is expected to enter service in
2004.
Two other "Destiny-class" ships
under construction at Fincantieri, the Carnival Conquest and
Carnival Glory, set to debut in 2002 and 2003, respectively,
are being "stretched" by approximately 60 feet. which
will make them the same size as the new 110,000- ton vessel.
The "Destiny-class"Carnival Victory, expected to enter
service Aug. 31, 2000, is nearing completion and its design will
remain unchanged.
The additional space provided by stretching
the Destiny design will allow for the creation of a number of
new facilities, including an expanded food service area on the
Lido deck, an alternative restaurant, a family entertainment
center, conference room/business center, an Internet cafe and
an expanded sports and recreation area.
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