------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Jan. 16, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
PRESTIGE NOT THE ONLY DISASTER: OIL SPILLS, STRETCHED CREWS, AND CROWDED SEA LANES By G. Dunkel Oil from the Prestige, the tanker that sank off the northwest coast of Spain in late November, reached the French coast before Jan. 1. France is preparing a major and sustained effort to keep its shoreline clean. Thousands of tons of oil have already fouled the beaches of Galicia in northwest Spain, destroying fishing and scenic attractions. More is to be expected because the Prestige is still spewing 125 tons of oil a day. Some 90,000 jobs, most in fishing and processing, have already been lost in Galicia. France is still evaluating its losses, which are going to be heavy. The Prestige was carrying 77,000 tons of oil from Latvia to Singapore, about twice as much as the Exxon Valdez was carrying when it went down. To clean up the Valdez spill cost $ 2.1 billion and took 10,000 workers, 1,000 boats and 100 planes and helicopters over a year. Hundreds of thousands of sea birds, bald eagles and otters were killed as well as up to 22 killer whales. Some Alaska beaches are still oily. It is going to be harder to deal with the Prestige, because it sank in 12,000 feet of water, which makes it very difficult to cap or move. European newspapers are filled with calls to force shipping companies to transport heavy oils of the kind that the Prestige was carrying in double-hulled ships, which are safer. This will be required in the U.S. after 2005. This is likely to be fiercely resisted by the maritime industry. Over $100 billion worth of oil a day is transported between producers and consumers, according to The Times of London, and 7,000 tankers are currently in operation. Lloyd's Marine Intelligence estimates that 52 percent of tankers weighing more than 10,000 tons are single-hulled. Losing this much transport capacity is going to boost the cost of oil and/or cut the profits of the shippers. If the European Union and North America prohibit the use of single hulls and enforce this ban, it is likely that such ships will be transferred to the trade between poorer countries. The ensuing spills will be less of a public relations problem for the imperialist governments, but will still cause grave environmental damage. Besides the mistakes of the Spanish government, there is another problem lying in the background of the Prestige--a 26-year-old Japanese-built ship owned by a company registered in Liberia, managed by a Greek firm, registered in the Bahamas, certified by a U.S. organization, and chartered by a Swiss-based Russian trading company Shipping lane accidents are becoming more numerous. On Dec. 15 a Norwegian car carrier, the Tricolor, sank in the English Channel after colliding with the Kariba, a container ship from the Baham as. Two days later the German-owned Nicola collided with the submerged Tricolor. Two weeks later, the Turkish-registered Vicky hit the same wreck. The British maritime union NUMAST, commenting on the second accident, pointed out that cost-cutting by ship owners and poor crew training had made disasters a matter of "when," rather than "if." Its spokesperson said, "We have to look at how ship owners are sacrificing competent crews for cheap crews. Crew costs take up a vast part of running costs, and owners are constantly looking at ways to cut back costs." NUMAST also pointed out that many ships are under-crewed, making mistakes caused by fatigue more common. Washington's preparations for a major war in the Middle East are also affecting shipping. With the Navy turning to merchant vessels to move vast amounts of war materiel and oil to the Gulf region and to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, U.S. firms are recommissioning laid-up ships. As the flow of materiel and oil grows, ships like the Prestige may not be directly involved, but the owners of these old ships will find it profitable to keep them running as newer ships are involved in supplying the U.S. war machine. The more that old, single-hulled ships are run, the greater the chance for Prestige-type catastrophes. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
