“Prestige” was not a very good name for the tanker that split in two and sank off Spain’s northwest coast last week. There was certainly nothing prestigious about the way in which the aging tanker apparently passed an obligatory verification inspection after serious repairs earlier this year. US Bureau of Shipping inspectors detected hull cracks and ordered them fixed. Those welding repairs, carried out at a yard in China must now be high on the list of suspects for this disaster.
Once again, an oil-carrier wreck has demonstrated the hugely complex network of international partnerships at sea. Built in Japan 27 years ago, the Prestige was owned by a Bahamian company, managed by a Greek firm, chartered by a Swiss shipper, and loaded with a cargo of oil in Latvia for delivery to Singapore. Recriminations between all these parties, to say nothing of the Spanish government, are likely to slow settlements by both hull and cargo insurers, as will the claims that may be mounted by the Galician fishermen and tourism operators, upon whose shores the fuel oil sludge is being washed ashore.
Unlike the Exxon Valdiz disaster in Alaska, there is no big oil company behind the Prestige, anxious to protect its international image and prepared to fund the oil cleanup and wild-life rescue, as well as agree compensation with those whose livelihood has been seriously damaged. The big and favorable difference between the Exxon Valdiz wreck and that of the Prestige is that the former was in restricted waters whereas the Prestige is at least in the open ocean, where her glutinous cargo has a chance of being dispersed by storm and tide.
The first reaction from Brussels was to announce the need to speed up plans to create a European Maritime Safety Agency. There is a case for such a body. However, if every European port authority did its job properly, it ought not to be needed. What is surely more important is for the Europeans as a whole to throw themselves behind the advancement of the agreed date to phase out single-hulled tankers.
There are 1,800 large tankers in the world’s fleet and two-thirds of them are single-hulled vessels, the oldest of which, like the Prestige are due for scrap in 2005, with the last single-hulled tanker leaving service in 2015. Unfortunately, there are already disputes about what exactly a double-hulled vessel is. There are tankers with double-skin sides but single-skin bottoms. Currently these are classed as single-skinned but some of the ships are of quite recent build which owners are reluctant to scrap. The truth is that international bodies can argue and issue standards until they are blue in the face, but unless these are rigorously enforced everywhere, they are worthless. The pressure for profit impels world trade to move at an ever-greater pace.
Cheapskate operators, corrupt inspection regimes and indulgent port authorities are leaving these rust bucket vessels in operation. Tough rules need to be enforced everywhere. If a vessel fails an official examination it should be forced to go either to the scrap yard or the repair dock of the inspector’s choice. No ifs, no buts and ultimately, one hopes, no more Prestiges.
