European Maritime Safety Agency Empowered to Fight Spills

BRUSSELS, Belgium, August 7, 2003 (ENS) - Motivated by widespread oil spills that have fouled Europe's Atlantic coasts, the European Union is establishing the legal and technical framework required to operate specialized pollution response ships and equipment for collecting oil and other noxious substances in the sea.

The European Commission today adopted a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council that would expand the role of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to deal with oil and chemical spills in European waters.

“In the aftermath of the Erika and Prestige disasters, maritime safety legislation has been drastically improved to guarantee the highest level of environment protection to European shores and waters," said the Commission's Vice President Loyola de Palacio, who is in charge of transportation.

The Commission also proposes to widen the agency's powers to handle maritime security. This is justified by increased concerns over the threat of terrorism and other illicit actions targeting ships and port installations, the European executive branch said today.

EU Vice President Loyola de Palacio with William O'Neill, chairman of the International Maritime Organization, April 2003 (Photo courtesy Office of the Commissioner)

The European Maritime Safety Agency was set up in the aftermath of the "Erika" disaster. The tanker, chartered by TotalFina, spilled more than 10 million liters (2.6 million gallons) of oil into the ocean on December 12, 1999, much of which washed up along France's Atlantic coast.

Winter storms and currents that battered the French coastline turned the "Erika" oil spill into an environmental catastrophe that affected fishermen, oyster farmers and the tourism industry as well as more than 100,000 sea birds.

Stricter maritime safety rules proposed by the Commission after the "Erika" spill, and entered into force on July 22. These two laws tighten the safety checks and controls of ships undertaken by classification societies on behalf of EU flag states and those carried out by states whose ports are visited by the ships. Their objective is to make the inspection regimes of potentially dangerous ships more rigorous.

But only Denmark, France, Germany, Spain and the UK have made the "Erika I" rules, as they are known, a part of their national laws. On July 25, the Commission initiated legal procedings against Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden for failing to communicate national measures implementing the two key maritime safety laws.

"Failure to implement these rules can directly affect the quality and safety of the ships sailing in European waters, of European ships globally as well as the removal of unsound vessels from the seas," the Commission said.

A second set of rules known as the Erika II package is soon to take effect. It includes the establishment of a monitoring and community information system, proposed by a law which will enter into force on February 4, 2004. This will permit a closer surveillance of ships in the coastal zones of the European Union especially of “at risk” vessels, the Commission said. It will also lead to the creation of places of refuge on the coasts as havens for ships in distress.

The Erika II package also created a $US1 billion European indemnity fund in favor of the victims of oil spills. The International Oil Pollution Compensation Supplementary Fund was adopted by the International Maritime Organization in London in May.

The urgency to put cleanup and preventive measures in place increased when, on November 13, 2002, the Bahamas flagged tanker "Prestige," carrying millions of barrels of oil, cracked up during a storm off Europe's westernmost point of land, Cape Finisterre, on Spain's Costa da Morte, or Coast of Death. Oil leaked from the sunken ship for months.

Oil from the "Prestige" spill can be seen as dark areas in this November 21 image taken by the IKONOS satellite from 423 miles in space. (Photo courtesy NASA)

Following the "Prestige" accident, further new proposals were tabled by the Commission including a Regulation to prohibit the transport of heavy fuel oil by single hull tankers, which in case of sinking, cause the greatest damage. Both the "Prestige" and the "Erika" were single hulled vessels, not the safer, more modern double hulled ones.

The Commission shaved five years off the deadline for elimination of single hulled tankers. No single hulled tanker will be allowed to enter an EU port after 2010 in place of 2015.

The most hazardous tankers, similar to the "Erika" or to the "Prestige" will be forbidden entry into EU ports as of the entry into force of another new regulation. Agreement having already been made on this text, its final adoption by the Parliament and Council of Ministers in the next few weeks should enable it to enter into force in September, the Commission says.

The proposal for another regulation, made in March and awaiting adoption, would establish criminal penalties for the illegal emptying of hydrocarbons into the ocean or for major marine pollution.

The European Maritime Safety Agency is provisionally located in Brussels. Its Administrative Board has been set up, and its Executive Director, Willem de Ruiter, was nominated early 2003. Auxiliary staff is already in place, while additional staff is currently being recruited.

Currently the agency handles the collection of information and operation of data bases on maritime safety, and the evaluation and auditing of maritime classification societies.

Agency staff organize inspection visits in the EU Member States to verify Port State Control conditions, enabling national inspectors to identify more effectively the vessels at risk which should be the subject of tighter controls.

The agency facilitates the exchange of good practice between EU Member States and provides technical assistance to the Commission in all areas relating to maritime safety and the prevention of marine pollution.

The Commission's proposal to expand the agency's powers now will be transmitted to the European Parliament and to the Council of Ministers for discussion and adoption.