Activists deliever oil waste from the Prestige oil spill to Crown Resources, the owner of the oil that covered Spain's northern coast.
Over the last day reports and rumours have speculated the route
of the single hulled oil tanker chartered by the same company
responsible for the oil spill off the coast of Spain. Most accounts
by the media quote the owners or the chartering company stating
that it would go to Antwerp. That the oil tanker has been besieged
by Greenpeace activists first in Estonia and then through the
straights of Denmark and Germany. The company wanted to avoid
further embarrassment.
But our activists have not been fooled by these misleading
reports and have caught up with the tanker in the port of
Rotterdam.
Activists approached from the open side of the ship, three
activists are now chained to the mooring line, two are chained to
the buoys. They brought with them a banner that is now hanging on
the side - OIL HAZARD - and they are getting ready to the paint a
message on the hull of the Byzantio.
The police have already arrived on the ground and a Greek
representative of the owner of the ship has been intensively trying
to convince our campaigner that the Byzantio is in top condition,
the best ship and so on.
The 26 year old Byzantio is a single hulled vessel, one of
hundreds worldwide. These ships pose a serious risk to the marine
environment. The ship was chartered by the Russian-owned trading
company 'Crown Resources' to transport 53,000 tonnes of oil between
Tallinn and Rotterdam. Crown Resources is the same company that
charted the Prestige oil tanker which recently broke up and sunk of
the coast of Spain spilling thousands of tonnes of oil into the
sea.
Activists in Switzerland are also protesting outside of Crown
Resources bringing waste from the spill off Spain to their
headquarters and telling the company to: Clean up your mess
now!
How do we stop the ongoing threat of oil shipments?
European Union Ministers will meet tomorrow in Brussels to
discuss measures to improve maritime safety to reduce the risk of
accidents. But these measures may not be sufficient to prevent
another disaster. The EU Commission has published a list of 66
vessels that have been classified as highly dangerous, ironically,
neither the disastrous Prestige, nor the Byzantio appear on this
list.
Politicians must wake up and realise that tackling this mess
goes beyond mere suggestions. Now is the time for European
governments to take action and stop these old rust buckets from
causing more damage to the oceans. Now is the time for immediate
implementation of effective safety measures.
We want to see full and unlimited liability throughout the chain
of responsibilities, including the owners, managers and operators
of a vessel and of any charterers or owners of the cargo. The EU
must immediately ban the use of single hulled tankers and exclude
ecologically sensitive areas from shipping routes.
But the only foolproof protection for our seas is to give up our
addiction on fossil fuels, end the cycle of pollution and switch to
clean, renewable energies such as solar and wind power.
The Byzantio has so far made it safely to Rotterdam, but where
will it go next? And for how long with the rust buket tankers that
follow it be safe?
There are currently two tankers in Tallinn, Estonia where the
Byzantio loaded up last week. The 22-year-old, Express and
21-year-old, Burgas are flying flags of convenience like the
Byzantio and have loaded the same dangerous cargo, 80,000 tonnes
and 50,000 tonnes of heavy oil.
Another two are due to leave Baltic ports later this week from
Tallinn and Klaipeda, in Lithuania.
If these tankers are bound for Asia than they will follow the
same route as the Prestige, past the oil coated coast of northern
Spain.
Help us by taking action now to
support this action. Demand that the European Union tighten up the
loopholes and flag of convenience laws that allow deadly cargoes to
sail past our fragile coasts legally. Demand an end to the tragedy
of oil spills.
Join
the discussion of the spill in Spain.
Take action online!
Send a protest message to Crown Oil and demand that the EU
tighten up regulations on old, dangerous oil tankers. Click here to keep other ships in
port.
Help us by making an
urgent donation to our efforts to stop oil spills and move the
world toward clean, renewable energy.