Feature story - 8 December, 2002
More than 150 local fishing boats and yachts joined Greenpeace's flagship the Rainbow Warrior In a protest flotilla off the Galacian port town of Coruña. Another 2000 people lined the harbour. What do we all want? An guarantee that catastrophes such as the Prestige oil tanker disaster will never happen again.
The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior sails in the Galician port town of La Coruna this morning in protest against the weak response to the oil disaster from authorities, and demanding that stricter measures are put in place.
We joined representatives of the Spanish fishing industry in
Spain asking the European Union to adopt real and effective
measures are put in place following the weak response to the
disaster by authorities. The Rainbow Warrior and its crew will
spend the coming days in the affected area, documenting the ongoing
impact of the disaster on Spain's oil-soaked shores.
Greenpeace Spain's Executive Director is horrified by what he
has seen over the last few weeks and says the EU must get serious
about ensuring that disasters like the Prestige can never happen
again. "The EU Transport Ministers Council meeting was very
disappointing and failed to adopt strong enough measures to protect
our seas. When the presidents of the EU meet in Copenhagen next
week they must implement a much stricter system immediately."
We want 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 must
ensure that industry pays for the damage caused by accidents.
The decision by EU Transport Ministers to ban single-hulled
vessels carrying heavy oil should be extended to cover all
hazardous materials, and to exclude single hulled ships from
ecologically sensitive areas.
"The maximum compensation in the case of the Prestige will
amount to only 172 million Euros," said Juan. "It is completely
unacceptable that those responsible for the damage can wash their
hands of the whole issue and that the taxpayers have to pay for
most of the damages."
Speaking at a press conference on board the Rainbow Warrior, the
Galician writer Manolo Rivas, one of the founders of Greenpeace
Spain, recalled our famous campaign in the mid 1980s, which stopped
the dumping of radioactive waste in the Atlantic ocean off Spain.
Rivas urged Spanish people to mobilise against the "black tide', as
they did against radioactive waste, to ensure that the Prestige
catastrophe is never repeated.
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.
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urgent donation to our efforts to stop oil spills and move the
world toward clean, renewable energy.