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Why was the Prestige in such a sensitive marine
area?
by Dr Simon Cripps Source: Panda.org abreu_gz@hotmail.com
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A Coruña, Spain - Standing on the beach near
the village of Caion, seeing the heavy black sludge that covers the
beaches and headlands and knowing more is on its way, many
questions spring to mind. Why was an old single-hulled oil tanker
chosen to carry such a dangerous cargo? Did it by-pass routine
maintenance checks? Who is responsible for the accident? Who will
pay for the damage? What will happen to the 60,000 tonnes of oil
that went down with the Prestige?
These are all important questions, and need to be
answered. But there's another question that has not been so often
asked: why was an oil tanker anywhere near the Galician coast in
the first place?
The Prestige should never have been where it was.
It carried a load of heavy industrial fuel — one of the worst
possible types of oil to spill — into an area rich in marine
and bird species and where over 60 per cent of the local population
depend on fishing for their livelihood. Added to this, once the
tanker started leaking its cargo, it was towed out to sea where it
sank within the Galicia Bank: a sea mount, or underwater mountain,
with very high biodiversity that WWF has proposed be designated as
a Marine Protected Area.
The effects of the oil already in the water and
coating the coastline are serious. Current estimates are that 4,000
Galician fishermen and up to 28,000 people in associated industries
will be out of work. The area's fisheries are likely to be affected
for as many as 10 years, and impacts on the environment may well be
evident for the next 20–30 years. And, as bad as it is now,
if the 60,000 tonnes of oil still in the tanker are not contained,
the effects will be catastrophic.
Media attention has highlighted the dangers of
single-hulled oil tankers and the need for stricter maintenance
regulations, and is now turning to assigning blame for the
accident. But we need to remember that even with strict ship design
and maintenance laws, and even if oil and shipping companies are
held accountable for spills, accidents will still
happen.
Shipping carries 80 per cent of international
trade. There will always be groundings, collisions, and other
accidents that not even the best of rules can prevent. It's not
enough to focus solely on reducing the likelihood of future oil
spills. Governments also need to ensure that spills don't occur in
vulnerable marine areas.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO)
already has the capacity to do this. In 1991, the IMO adopted the
concept of Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas — areas
vulnerable to damage by international shipping activities that need
special protection because of their ecological, economic, cultural,
or scientific significance.
Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas are marked on
international nautical charts, and mariners are required to take
extra care when navigating through them. Coastal states can also
adopt additional protective measures for these areas to guard
against particular risks associated with international shipping.
These include banning single-hull vessels, identifying areas to be
avoided and recommended routes, requiring experienced pilots on
board when ships pass through these areas, and requiring mandatory
reporting as ships transit sensitive areas.
A network of Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas
together with strict shipping regulations tailored for each area
would help reduce the impact of future oil, and other,
spills.
The tragedy is that in the 11 years since
Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas were introduced, only 5 have been
designated worldwide. The Galician coastline is not one of
them.
Over 300 ships have sunk off the Galician coast in
the past 100 years. A Particularly Sensitive Sea Area designation
for this area could not have prevented the Prestige oil spill, but
could have helped minimize risks to humans and wildlife in this and
other sensitive coastal regions.
Previous oil spills have already led to improved
shipping practices and regulations. The US introduced a phase-out
of single- hulled oil tankers by 2015 after the 1989 Exxon
Valdez oil spill. The 1999 Erika oil spill off the coast of France
prompted the IMO to speed up their phase-out deadline to match that
of the US, and also led to EU maritime laws being strengthened.
While these laws are slow to come into effect and could still be
further tightened, they are an essential step towards reducing the
likelihood of future oil spills.
Hopefully the Prestige oil spill will be the
catalyst for the next phase in the process: ensuring that any
future spills do not affect vulnerable marine areas. This would
help provide both people and wildlife with further protection
against future shipping disasters.
* Dr Simon Cripps is Director of WWF's Endangered
Seas Programme
1. Innlegg
