10 years after the Sea Empress oil spill and still no emergency tug cover for Milford Haven Waterway

10 Years after the SEA EMPRESS oil spill and still no emergency tug cover for Milford Haven Waterway.

Ten years after the Sea Empress oil spill on the Pembrokeshire coast, it has emerged that the Government has still not provided adequate emergency tug cover for the area. This failure has been condemned by Friends of the Earth as penny-pinching and irresponsible.[1]

On February 10th 1998, Glenda Jackson (Shipping Minister) announced in the House of Commons that "the Government was satisfied that the trials carried out since 1994 by the Coastguard Agency had demonstrated the capabilities of emergency towing vessels in preventing or lessening such risks". The areas provided with protection were the Dover Straits, The Minches (NW Scotland), Fair Isle (Shetland, NE Scotland) and Falmouth (SW approaches and western English Channel).

Despite lobbying from Milford Haven Port Authority (which has also offered a free berth), local MPs and others, no emergency towing vessel (ETV) has been provided for the Irish Sea area. This leaves Milford Haven badly exposed with a huge gap between the Falmouth ETV (approx. 14 hours journey away) and the Minches ETV (approx. 24 hours away) [2].

The government announcement followed the recommendations made in reports completed after the disastrous oil spills caused by the loss of the tanker Braer (1993) near the Shetland Islands and the grounding of the Sea Empress (1996) at Milford Haven.

Pembrokeshire Friends of the Earth spokesperson, Charlie Mason, said:

"Given the pre-eminence of Milford Haven as the nation's premier oil port, the busyness of the Irish Sea's marine transport sector and the nature of some of the hazardous cargos carried through Irish Sea shipping lanes, it is hard to understand why the Government refuses to fund an emergency towing vessel for the area.

"Government sources claim that a vessel for Milford Haven cannot be justified on cost grounds, but for the people and business of sout west Wales, this is equivalent to being told we must do without an ambulance service because it cannot be justified on cost. The Government levies taxes on every drop of crude oil imported into Milford Haven and on refined product exported from the port. The cost and impact of another oil spill will far outweigh the funding of an emergency vessel.

"The situation is even more serious now with the prospect of tankers carrying hazardous liquefied natural gas (LNG) into Milford Haven in the near future. The extra danger that this presents should surely shake the government out of its complacency on this issue."

The environmental significance of the Pembrokeshire coast and the threats posed by shipping were recognised in the Department of Transport announcement earlier this week that the Pembrokeshire Islands are to be given the status of Marine Environment High Risk Areas (MEHRAs).[3] This follows a recommendation made by Lord Donaldson in his report 'Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas' (May 1994) into the Braer oil spill off the Shetland Islands in January 1993.

Gordon James, of Friends of the Earth Cymru (Wales), said:

"We welcome the designation of the Pembrokeshire Islands as a Marine Environment High Risk Area (MEHRA). It's regrettable that it has taken the Government almost twelve years to do this. In view of what happened with the Sea Empress, we believe it should have occurred much earlier.

"It is important that the requirements of the MEHRA designation are properly implemented so that all shipping avoids the most environmentally important areas and takes particular care off the Pembrokeshire coast.[4]"

Notes

1. Friends of the Earth took a lead role in responding to the grounding of the Sea Empress in 1996 by providing volunteers to assist with oiled birds; producing the first assessment of the environmental impact of the oil spill ('Lost Treasure', May 1996); challenging the Marine Accident Investigation Branch report into the accident; obtaining information from expert witnesses (such as salvage experts and marine pilots) with the view of undertaking a private prosecution of those deemed responsible; urging the Environment Agency to take legal action and providing information for their prosecution; submitting evidence to the Donaldson report on 'Salvage and Intervention and their Command and Control' and producing a briefing paper on the environmental impact of the Sea Empress oil spill ten years on (Feb 2006).

2. Milford Haven is the UK's major oil port (UK's 4th busiest in terms of total cargo) with heavy tanker traffic, ferry operations, a fishing fleet and general cargo vessels in addition to a £2 billion expansion programme intended to handle 30% of the UK's projected marine imports of liquid natural gas. The nearby St Georges Channel (between Pembrokeshire and Ireland) is a "choke point" where shipping lanes are constricted and further confused by cross channel traffic. There is no doubt that the Irish Sea coasts are vulnerable to shipping accidents. It is a crowded marine transport sector supplying ports in Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, western Scotland and north-west England. In addition to the hazardous cargos such as oil and chemicals, the Irish Sea is also a centre for the regular maritime transport of radioactive materials including high-level radioactive wastes, plutonium mixed oxides and reactor fuel en-route to and from British Nuclear Fuels sites such as Sellafield and Springfields.

3. The Transport Secretary, Alastair Darling, announced today that 32 locations around the UK have been given Marine Environment High Risk Area (MEHRA) status. The Pembrokeshire Islands are the only site in Wales.

4. The Donaldson report, 'Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas', states in recommendation 59 that "the Department of Transport should monitor MEHRAs to see whether Masters' behaviour has changed"