RESOLUTION B3-0047, 0048, 0054, 0067, 0076, 0085 and 0095/93

Resolution on the Braer tanker disaster

The European Parliament,

A.whereas the Braer, an oil tanker built in 1975 and flying the Liberian flag, ran aground on the coast of Shetland on 5 January 1993, releasing its 84 000 tonnes of oil into the sea,

B.whereas the wrecking of the Braer oil tanker in Shetland is the third similar recent disaster in a long line of similar disasters in Community waters,

C.expressing its deep sadness and distress at the damage caused by the shipwrecked Braer oil tanker to the livelihood of the local people in Shetland, the local wildlife and to the environment of the islands; whereas Shetland, like Galicia where the 'Aegean Sea' was lost just a month ago, is one of the peripheral regions of the Community most dependent on fishing and aquaculture,

D.having regard to the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC, which deals with the protection of wild flora and fauna OJ No. L 206, 22.7.l992, p. 7; whereas Shetland is a proposed Environmentally Sensitive Area, containing 71 Sites of Special Scientific Interest and several National Scenic Areas, in one of which the majority of the pollution is situated,

E.noting with regret that the Council has failed to respond positively to many sensible European Parliament recommendations over the past decade and more, whereas the Council has failed to take adequate action in response to the European Parliament's concerns regarding the widespread use of flags of convenience (open register), which not only serve to undermine crew standards but also enable ship-owners to reduce expenditure on essential maintenance and repairs, thereby jeopardizing safety; wheras the Commission and the Council have failed to release the communication on maritime safety which was to be available in the first half of 1992 as promised, in reply to question No. 2076/91 by Kenneth Stewart OJ No. C 180, 16.7.1992, p. 7,

F.supporting the Council of Transport Ministers' adoption on 7 December 1992 of a directive whereby owners of vessels with dangerous cargoes must inform the port authorities, but nevertheless believing that this measure is insufficient,

G.welcoming the meeting of the Environment Ministers of France and Italy in Bonifacio on 19 January 1993 concerning the prohibition of shipment of dangerous cargos in the Bocche di Bonifacio area,

H.having regard to its previous resolutions on shipping disasters since 1978, in particular that of 18 April 1991 on the shipping disasters off Genoa and Livorno, OJ No. C 129, 20.5.1991, p. 132 16 September 1992 on environmental damage caused by oil spills from ships OJ No. C 284, 2.11.1992, p. 80 and 17 December 1992 on the accident and oil slick at Corunna Minutes of that Sitting, Part II, Item 6(a), and its opinion of 26 October 1990 on a proposal for a regulation establishing a ommunity ship register and providing for the flying of the Community flag by sea-going vessels OJ No. C 295, 26.11.1990, p. 659,

1.Calls on the Commission to support, through the Community budget and in other ways open to it, the actions taken by the Scottish Office and other bodies concerned to mitigate the effects of the disaster on the local population and economy;

2.Welcomes in this respect the decision of the Commission to provide immediate disaster relief and support for environmental measures;

3.Calls on the Council, the Commission and the UK government to conclude an agreement on a specific disaster aid package to assist Shetland to deal with the social, economic and environmental repercussions of the Braer disaster in the short, medium and long term and recommends that this package should include, inter alia:

-the full under-writing of compensation payments, pending the eventual settlement of insurance claims;

-the coverage of compensation claims which are not eventually met by insurance companies;

-a special package of measures to assist the fishing industry, the fish farming industry and related industries, which includes temporary funding to maintain employment pending the eventual recovery of coastal waters, stocks and market confidence and also including funding to restore the image of Shetland and its products to their previous level, once the clean-up is completed;

-adequate levels of funding for studies on the social, economic and environmental impact of the disaster;

4.Calls on the Commission to conduct a thorough investigation into the use of chemical dispersants with a view to ensuring that the environmental damage proven to be caused by dispersants is avoided as far as possible;

5.Calls on the Commission to bring forward a proposal for the prohibition of shipments of dangerous cargo through the waters of environmentally sensitive areas of the Community and through routes deemed unsafe;

6.Calls on the Commission and Council to consider the implications of creating a European register for shipping, which together with established port state control arrangements, would allow the Community to monitor properly, influence and control ships using EC waters and to ensure respect for international maritime conventions;

7.Urges all responsible authorities in the Community to adopt further safety directives including:

-banning oil-tankers more than 15 years old from using the ports of the Member States (already existing law in the US);

-setting a date for banning oil-tankers which do not have a double hull from territorial waters of the Member States;

- setting up a single language - on- and offship - for use in emergency;

- obligatory pilot guidance when routes pass near the coast;

- introduction of radar vessel control in particularly hazardous areas;

- limiting loading capacities;

- obligatory training in safety measures for the crew;

- inspection of ships in EC ports, with sanctions in cases where they fall far below EC standards;

the fitting of sufficient duplicated and entirely independent essential systems on all existing tankers;

8.Urges the Commission, Council and the Member States to put pressure on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to study the environmental impact, using Shetland as a laboratory for analysing the effects of oil spills in the medium and long term, of marine transport of oil and dangerous cargoes, and to apply the polluter pays principle, enforcing full liability for shipowners not only for the cleaning operation, but also for income loss of fishermen and compensation payments for damage tothe environment; in the case of non-payment by the shipowners, the country where the ship is registered should be held financially responsible;

9.Calls on the Commission and the Council to develop a comprehensive policy concerning maritime safety as soon as possible and condemns the Council for not having taken action over a period of many years;

10.Calls on the governments of the Member States to implement and enforce existing conventions adopted by the IMO on maritime safety; urges the Commission, Council and Member States to enable the IMO to ensure that national administrations licensed as flag states must in future meet high standards, and calls on the Commission, Council and Member States to co-ordinate their actions so that, if high safety standards are not met, ships may be excluded from EC ports and territorial waters;

11.Calls on its President to set up a committee of inquiry drawn from all the relevant committees to investigate all aspects of this resolution, in particular environmental and economic impact and maritime safety;

12.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the International Maritime Organization, the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Convener of the Shetland Islands Council.