France and Spain prepared for a repeat of the Prestige tanker disaster yesterday after Estonia resisted international pressure to prevent another suspect ship leaving Tallinn this weekend on its way through the Baltic sea and the English Channel.
The Byzantio, with 50 000 tons of heavy-sulphur fuel on board — similar to the Prestige’s 60 000 ton cargo — was declared unsafe when it docked in Ireland in August.
The ship — chartered by the same company that used the Prestige — was considered a poorly maintained fire hazard, while the captain was unable to produce inspection certificates.
France and Spain have agreed to ban tankers sailing within 200 miles of European coasts unless they could meet strict new safety standards, including reinforced hulls.
The Byzantio, like the Prestige, is a single-hull, 26-year-old vessel of a type which Europe intends to outlaw within two years after a series of sinkings. They are already excluded from ports in the US.
There is speculation that Paris or Madrid will take independent action if the Byzantio sails on schedule after shipping officials described it as a ”floating dustbin” manned by a poorly trained crew.
They want to set an example after claiming that at least four unsafe tankers pass through the Channel every day.
France has naval patrols off the coast of Brittany which have been instructed to force ships that are suspected of being unsafe to take shelter in French ports and undergo inspection.
The French shipping minister, Dominique Bussereau, warned Estonia that its chances of joining the EU as one of the 10 new members could be compromised if the Byzantio was not thoroughly inspected.
A list of complaints was sent to Tallinn underlining links with Crown Resources, a Russian charter company, but Estonian inspectors told France yesterday there was nothing wrong with the ship and that it could leave port after the fuel was loaded this weekend.
The Byzantio, owned by a Greek company, sails under a Maltese flag of convenience, like the Prestige, whose fuel spill has ruined the Galician coastline and threatens Portugal and south-western France.
Legal arguments have begun over who should pay for the damage to some of Europe’s most popular holiday beaches.
Environmental groups in France have lobbied their government to take independent action before the Byzantio passes through the Channel on Wednesday when weather conditions are expected to be stormy.
In the past 25 years, the Brittany coast has suffered from several oil spills from wrecked tankers, including the Amoco Cadiz in 1978 and the Erika three years ago.
Referring to the poor state of ships such as the Byzantio and the Prestige, which broke in two while being towed out into the Atlantic, Greenpeace’s Bruno Rebelle said oil shipping had ”reached the limits of sordidness linked to mafia-type activities and money laundering in Switzerland”.
Jacky Bonnemains, who leads the Robin des Bois movement, said the type of fuel carried by the Prestige and the Byzantio was so dangerous that it could not be legally landed in Europe. The two ships’ final destinations have never been clear although they were both scheduled to call at Singapore and Indonesia.
While discussions over whether the Byzantio will be allowed to leave its moorings continue, France is sending a mini-submarine, the Nautile, to inspect the two halves of the Prestige which are lying more than 10 000 feet below the Atlantic off the Spanish coast.
Guy Herrouin, director of the exploration company Ifremer, said films will show whether the fuel is leaking from the ship. The latest reports show huge oil slicks being pushed northwards towards France’s Basque coast not far from Biarritz. – Guardian Unlimited (c) Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001