The European Union's head office said Thursday it was concerned Britain did not carry out proper EU checks on a Bahamas-flagged tanker carrying 77,000 tons of oil that has started to sink off the coast of Spain.
EU Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio's office had sent the British government a letter questioning whether it carried out the required inspections of the listing tanker, the Prestige, when it docked in Gibraltar before its latest oil cargo route from Latvia.
"We are taking this matter with great concern," EU spokesman Gilles Gantelet said, adding recently passed EU rules on ship safety should have prevented the current situation. "We are getting in touch with British authorities to see whether the necessary checks were made and if not why not," he said.
Gantelet said the 44,000-ton (48,500 US ton) single-hull ship made regular trips between Gibraltar and Latvia and was on its way back to Gibraltar, full of oil, when it sprang a leak off the coast of Spain on Wednesday.
He added that, under the new rules, port authorities had to check 25 percent of all ships coming into dock.
"Inspections should no longer be random, they should be targeted … especially for ships that have had problems in the past," Gantelet said. "It is not just a matter of adopting the rules, it is a matter of getting the rules respected."
The Prestige, which was built in Japan in 1976, last underwent inspection in 1999, said Gantelet.
The EU's head office has already taken France and Ireland to court earlier this year for not carrying out enough inspections of ships entering their ports.
The EU's search for tougher maritime safety rules followed the sinking of the "Erika" oil tanker three years ago off the Atlantic coast of France. The 25-year-old, single-hulled tanker broke in two, spilling spilled 10,000 tons of crude oil across French beaches.
In an effort to prevent future oil spills, the EU passed legislation last year phasing out single hull tankers that have been blamed for a spate of maritime disasters in recent years.
The 15-nation bloc also passed EU-wide standards to improve monitoring of vessels carrying dangerous goods, giving EU countries the right to veto vessels from leaving port in bad weather if their entry poses a threat to human life or the environment.
