BRUSSELS, Belgium — European Union nations agreed Friday to ban single hull tankers carrying heavy fuel through their waters, in an attempt to prevent environmental disasters like the oil spill off the coast of northwest Spain.
The ban will come into force next month as part of a package of measures rushed through by EU transport ministers in the wake of the sinking of the Prestige oil tanker which has secreted millions of gallons of crude onto to Spain’s Atlantic beaches.
“We want to avoid these ecological bombs being able to sail in our waters,” said EU transport commissioner Loyola de Palacio.
Under the agreement, the 15 EU nations will also phase in a total ban on single-hulled vessels over 15 years old. The ban is likely to come into force in 2010, de Palacio said.
The EU plans to set up “safety zones” off limits to dangerous ships and introduce a 1 billion euro ($1 billion) fund to help areas stricken by oil slicks.
The EU also agreed to enforce a black list of 66 ships judged particularly dangerous that will be immediately prohibited from entering EU ports.
De Palacio said the EU would accelerate the creation of a Maritime Safety agency to better monitor ships.
She brushed aside fears from the Netherlands that the ban on single hulled vessels could jeopardize fuel supplies, saying 50 percent of tankers world wide already had double hulls and that the percentage was growing.
Heavy fuels represent just 7 percent of oil carried by tankers, she added.
The Prestige spill has tarred some 180 beaches on Spain’s Atlantic coast. Over 15,000 birds an unknown number of fish and shellfish have been killed and maimed. The spill is also threatening the Portuguese and French coastlines.
The Bahamas-flagged Prestige leaked oil from Nov. 13, when its hull ruptured in a storm of the coast of Spain’s scenic Galicia region. On Nov. 19, it broke in half and sank.
Around 90 percent of the EU’s oil supplies are carried by sea, de Palacio said, stressing the need for greater consideration of expanding pipeline deliveries.
By Paul Ames, AP
