Transport minister Gleny Hanna-Martin has defended the “good record” of The Bahamas ship registry in the wake of of the oil spill off the coast of Spain.
The minister said that in light of the “considerable media coverage of this incident, which undoubtedly has drawn attention to the Bahamas Register,” she would like to highlight The Bahamas’ good record as a flag state with regard to “quality tonnage and Port State control inspection.”
The minister’s press release, issued yesterday, confirmed that at about 2PM on Wednesday, November 13, the oil tanker “Prestige”, a Bahamian registered vessel was discovered to have a “large hole” on the starboard side.
The volume of oil that spilled from the vessel as a result of this, some of which has already damaged some of Spain’s most scenic northern beaches, was last estimated to be in excess of 3,300 tons.
The spill also contaminated birds and wildlife in the area.
The tanker, damaged in a storm off the coast of Spain, was carrying 77,000 tons of fuel oil at the time. It is Spain’s worst shipping disaster in 10 years.
The Bahamas is responsible for inspecting the structural integrity of international trade vessels registered under its flag, an official of The Bahama Maritime Authority confirmed.
The incident could, therefore, cast The Bahamas Register in a negative aspect internationally if structural problems are determined to be behind the breach of the ship’s hull.
Ms. hanna-Martin acknowledged that “the matter is now attrcating wide publicity” and her statement came in the wake of comments made by many individuals as a result of the incident, including Greenpeace, spokesman Mario rodriguez, who condemned the use of such tankers of “flags of convenience.”
Mr. Rodriguez was referring to vessels which are flagged under “open registers” such as the one which operates in The Bahamas, saying that such vessels are “subject to no system of control.”
That The Bahamas operates as an open registry means that vessels registered under its flag are not obliged to employ local crew, and the ownership can be extra-national. In the case of the “Prestige”, the vessel is owned by the Greek company Mare Shipping Inc.
This combined with favourable tariff laws draws many international vessels to The Bahamas, and is a major factor in The Bahamas having 34 million gross tons registered under its flag, a tonnage that rivals the largest shipping registries in the world. A significant percentage of this is in tanker tonnage making it a substantial revenue earner.
Inspection of vessels like the “Prestige”: are carried out by classification societies, bodies that deploy teams to conduct surveys and issue classification certificates. If a vessel meets the standard set by the International Maritime Authority (IMO) Convention, they can be registered in The Bahamas.
The minister said, “The Bahamas approves only a limited number of classification societies to act on its behalf to carry out statutory surveys and issue international convention certificates.”
While not acknowledging any allegations directly, the minister and officials of The Bahamas Maritime Authority stressed the stringent adherence observed in The Bahamas to international codes of certification as set by the IMO.
The minister said while the process may “take a considerable amount of time and resources” the Bahamas Maritime Authority, upon notification of the incidentg, immediately adhered to its “statutory duty to undertake an investigation into the cause of the incident” and “will carry out an inspection of the vessel as soon as it is fit to be inspected.”
By Paco Nunez, The Tribune
