Editorial

Few things loom as large in a possible international category of fears as terrorism. One possible candidate for the dubious challenge is a fully-laden oil-tanker splitting up in forceful winds before going down with its cargo to the bottom of the sea.

When the Bahamas-flagged tanker, the Prestige, carrying 77,000 tonnes of fuel oil, sank a few days ago off the north coast of Spain, six days after running into difficulties in heavy seas, Spain braced itself for an ecological disaster.

Not without reason, the Torrey Canyon, the Exxon Valdez, the Erika are just three unromantic names in a long line of disasters that have cost the environment heavily. The latest, before the Prestige, was the Ecuadorean-registered Jessica, which spilled some 570 tonnes of diesel and bunker oil into the sea off the Galapagos islands in what was seen as one of Galapagos' worst environmental disasters.

Once again, the disaster provoked calls for speedy reforms of Europe's shipping laws, as the worst prognostications were made for the impact of millions of gallons of fuel oil reaching the ocean floor, two miles deep.

French President Jacques Chirac told reporters on a visit near Paris: "I am horrified by the inability of those in charge, politically, nationally and particularly at European level, to take action to stem the laxity which permits these ships fit only for the dustbin to carry on." He saw this incident as a catalyst for action.

"Now we must urgently take draconian measures, both severe and serious, even if they harm the interests of certain companies whose interests are not worth defending."

Already single-hulled tankers are to be outlawed in Europe - but not for another 13 years.

So now both France and Spain have vowed to push ahead without their European partners and start immediate inspections of dangerous oil tankers off their coasts.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, and President Chirac said they planned taking unilateral action tp crack down on suspect tankers sailing up to 320 kilometres off their coasts.

Aznar and Chirac hope other European Union countries would join their initiative at a Copenhagen summit next month. But he said Spain was not ready to take risks while it waited for the EU to take decisions on maritime safety.

The complication may be apparent from the facts known about the Prestige: Sailing under a Bahamas flag, the Liberian-owned tanker was chartered by the Swiss-based Russian oil trader Crown Resources and operated by Athens-based Universe Maritime.

Even though the Prestige is not registered in Malta, the incident is of direct concern to the island too. In a matter of days after the incident, one report sent out to the media by one of the world's leading news agencies, Reuter's, shot a direct arrow at the Malta flag when it reported that two aging tankers registered here and which had been blacklisted for safety, were set to ship more oil across Eurpean waters. Were these the only two aging tankers set to ship oil?

This was a most unfair report, considering the efforts that have been made by the Malta flag to improve its maritime safety standards. It goes to show how difficult it is to rehabilitate a name once it is sullied.