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Europe strengthens maritime safety
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On 23 November 2005, the European Commission is presenting a "third package" of proposals for directives aimed at tightening up maritime safety in Europe. Following the accidents of the Erika and the Prestige, which highlighted the vulnerability of Europe’s coastlines, the European Union has already taken a whole series of measures to make its seas safer. This third package will strengthen the guarantee of European maritime transport safety. It is based on two main courses of action: the increased prevention of accidents and pollution the handling of the aftermath of accidents
Erika and Prestige. These two names are synonymous with tragedies that highlighted the vulnerability
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of Europe's coastline. In response to these disasters, the European Union took a series
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of supplementary measures to make its seas safer. Among them were the creation of the
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European Maritime Safety Agency, a ban on single-hull ships carrying heavy fuel oil,
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reinforced inspection of ships in ports and the publication of a blacklist of banned vessels.
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Today, a third set of measures on maritime safety is being proposed by the European Commission.
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This coherent package allows Europe to offer a maritime service which is safe, competitive
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and which respects the environment. It's true that the security system still has deficiencies
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and it's been observed that one of the missing links was a better definition of the responsibility
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of the member states with regard to vessels sailing under their flags. Since enlargement,
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Europe's fleet makes up 25% of the world's ships. The Commission's ambition is to make
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this a model fleet. To achieve this, all member states must examine ships registered in their
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country according to the same criteria and with the same determination. Hence the idea
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of writing the International Maritime Organization's control standards into community law and so
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make their application obligatory throughout the Union. It's a proposal which is very much
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in line with the thoughts of Europe's ship owners.
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The EU fleet is a modern one, high quality and has been renewed constantly and the average
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age is constantly going down. We realise that some people have made criticism about the
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flags of the new countries, especially the big fleets of Cyprus and Malta. But even there,
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the last year, since accession and since they have to apply the acquis communautaire,
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there also improvements have been made.
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But why strive for a model fleet in Europe if Europe's ports are being used by floating
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dustbins from other regions of the world? They're a real danger, bring discredit to
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the profession and represent unfair competition. To get rid of them, there are many more controls
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in ports, but the system is not yet perfect.
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Now you have also, still up to today, a requirement for port state controlling member states to
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control 25% of the ships calling that port. Now if you are only at 10% in June, then you
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quickly control quality ships. It's easy to get your 25% by the end of the year. That's
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not the purpose.
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It's exactly this that the Commission wants to change. Throughout Europe, the objective
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would be to inspect each vessel with a higher risk profile more frequently and quality ships
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less frequently. This is what's happening here in Southampton in southern England, where
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inspectors rarely board a vessel by chance. We should mention that this particular ship
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did meet all the legal requirements.
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Good morning, Captain. Port state control.
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It's not totally random, no. We have something called a target factor, which is worked out
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on the basis of the flag of the vessel, the past history of the vessel, the size of the
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vessel and the type of the vessel. And then, depending on the target factor, if it has
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a high target factor, we will inspect it. If it has a lower target factor, of course,
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we inspect them less often, because we work on the basis that if you've got a low target
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factor, you don't want to actually penalise the good boys, if you know what I mean.
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It is impossible, obviously, to put an inspector on every ship. However, each vessel does need
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a pilot to enter the port. Pilots will therefore be asked to report vessels which are clearly
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not up to scratch.
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Port 10.
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If we get a report from a pilot, we will always inspect that vessel, because they are a very
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good indicator on operational standards on a vessel. Because unfortunately, we are rather
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stuck with that we are very limited in the operational aspects of a ship, apart from
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what we see when we're on the ship. So we do rely to a degree on people like pilots.
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Another sector involved in maritime security is classification societies. They establish
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construction standards for ships, monitor construction, deliver navigation certificates
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and certify repair and maintenance work. But the quality of these societies' work could
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be better controlled. Inspectors from the European Maritime Safety Agency should have
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unrestricted access to files and to all the vessels monitored by these societies. And
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when things go wrong, proper sanctions are needed. A range of measures which will also
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introduce financial penalties. The European Union has four times more coastline than Russia
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and seven times more than the United States. It has to deal with one of the highest levels
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of maritime traffic in the world, hence the importance of monitoring. To prevent accidents
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and react instantly in case of problems, it's vital to have maximum information about each
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ship. And here, the solution is called SafeSeaNet, an electronic data exchange network operated
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by the European Maritime Safety Agency, which will be extended throughout the Union. By
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connecting to SafeSeaNet, any country's maritime authorities will be able to directly consult
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the information contained in the databases of their European partners and find out all
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about any vessel sailing in Europe's waters. Improving security also means improving the
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worst and learning lessons from previous catastrophes. As a result of the Prestige disaster, the
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European Union is demanding that its members define refuge zones to accommodate ships in
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distress. This concept has been used in the United Kingdom for almost ten years. The aim
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is to limit pollution to a restricted area such as this bay, rather than allow it to
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disperse over hundreds of kilometres with well-known consequences. The bay out there
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is the sort of place that we might use to bring a ship if it needed sheltered waters
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to effect repairs or assess damage. In the UK, our policy is that everywhere could become
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a place of refuge. There is no ranking before an incident. As soon as an incident occurs,
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then some places are going to be better for that particular incident than others. But,
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as I say, it's determined by exactly what the incident is, when it occurs, and where.
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What's more, Member States will have to nominate a single, completely independent authority
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which will take the decision to send a vessel in distress to the most appropriate place
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of refuge. That person has the power to make decisions all depending on the situation.
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Decisions relating to places of refuge, to make the ultimate decisions and take over
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overriding command without recourse to any higher authority. That is the Secretary of
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State's representative, the SOS rep. That is me. As a result of any catastrophe, there
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must follow an enquiry into the causes, allocation of responsibility and compensation. On these
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points the Commission is asking for more transparency on the one hand and stricter penalties on
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the other. As far as compensating the victims of oil spills goes, Europe has already obtained
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the quadrupling of the damages ceiling applied by FIPOL, the International Indemnity Fund.
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But beyond increased compensation, there's also the matter of making the profession more
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responsible. For example, by making civil liability insurance obligatory for all ships.
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Even today, 5% of ships at sea are not insured. And, of course, among these are the most dangerous
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vessels. But one of the most spectacular decisions taken after the Prestige disaster is about
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addressing pollution due to serious negligence or intentional act. This type of criminal
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sanction, which would be extended to cover the whole European Union, has proved effective
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in France, where, for example, off the coast of Brittany, they've managed to significantly
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reduce degassing at sea, which is a less concentrated source of pollution, but nonetheless a considerable
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one. The role of the European Maritime Safety Agency is being reinforced in this area. It
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will develop tracing systems allowing identification of polluters. It could also mobilize specialist
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vessels to deal with oil spills, which would be ready to intervene swiftly on request of
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the member states concerned. In matters of maritime security, the European Union has
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clearly decided to tirelessly track down substandard vessels and to improve its level of preparedness
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and vigilance. The instruments are there. It's now up to each country to implement
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them to make the sea safer for everyone. What we obviously need now is to insist on very
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high quality maritime administrations in each member state. And we must also make the voice
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of Europe heard in the international maritime organization, to put up a determined fight
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against dustbin vessels, substandard ships which represent unfair competition to our
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flags. We want these European flags to be models, which I think is an excellent objective.
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- Autor/es:
- The European Union
- Subido por:
- EducaMadrid
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- Visualizaciones:
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- Fecha:
- 18 de julio de 2007 - 10:39
- Visibilidad:
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- Enlace Relacionado:
- European Commission
- Duración:
- 00′ 12″
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