Updated 12.50pm with PL, government reaction
The Environmental Resources Authority has “no option” but to reject the LNG tanker permit because of serious flaws in the safety reports, Nationalist Party president Ann Fenech said this morning.
There are “significant failures and deficiencies in the risk and safety studies” and the ERA should therefore reject the permit application, according to a PN report on the several reports published as part of the public consultation process, penned by Dr Fenech herself, a leading maritime lawyer.
Dr Fenech said the bay's exposure to the elements, the lack of proper wave studies, and the potential failure of the storm mooring system were enough for the authorities to throw out the application.
She said the lack of quick release hooks in case on bad weather also made the request unacceptable.
“Not only was there a total disregard of the crucial premise that a jetty and floating storage unit had to be placed in sheltered waters but there was also a total disregard of another golden rule that all moorings on board the vessel should have quick release hooks.”
The lack of quick release hooks in case on bad weather made the request unacceptable
She also spoke about the lack of emergency plans. “If the vessel breaks its moorings alongside the jetty and breaks her storm moorings, or drags her anchors or in the eventuality of a collision, what are the emergency mechanisms that are going to kick in?” she asked.
She said that during yesterday’s six-hour public consultation meeting, no mention was made of any third party liability insurance and on the compensation available to third parties in the case of injury or death or property damage.
Dr Fenech said Electrogas safety reports made “serious omissions” and they also admitted that certain risks were not taken into consideration, including high wind and high waves.
“These are huge flaws, meaning that we have no assessment of the effect of a failure in the storm mooring system. The question what will happen if there is a failure has not been addressed,” she said.
She added that the ERA is obliged to reject outright the permit. As proposed, the positioning of the floating storage unit permanently based in an unprotected bay of Marsaxlokk is a slap in the face of all that is dictated by good governance, good practice, rules and regulations geared towards the prevention of major incidents.
Ann Fenech addressing the news conference.PN has no plan for energy - Labour
The PN's political desperation has led the party to embark on a campaign of fear which has become farcical, the Labour Party charged this afternoon.
"The energy project which would lead to a transfer to a gas system has been compared to the Chernobyl disaster, to the Titanic, and now linked with strong waves," the PL said in a statement.
The PN's only plan is to go back to heavy fuel oil and to revive Delimara 1 power station while reopening the Marsa power station, the party claimed.
"The Maltese are in favour of a switch to gas, cheaper bills and cleaner air. That's why they don't trust the Opposition leader to turn back the clock."
Meanwhile, in another statement, the government said it was ridiculous that the Opposition has now embarked on a fear campaign and citing high waves as a danger.
While Dr Fenech is no expert in security, the international experts had made it clear the infrastructure is secure and clean, it said in a statement, adding it was worrying to see the way the PN was putting pressure on independent authorities.