The scandal of the Erika At an Athens party for the movers and shakers in world shipping the drinks flow freely.
Life is good.
But the industry funding this champagne lifestyle is coming under increasing scrutiny following one of Europe's worst environmental disasters. Correspondent has investigated the sinking of the oil tanker, Erika, off the west coast of France last December and has discovered a murky world where profit rules over safety and blame shifts like the sand on Brittany's beaches. On December 8th last year the 37,000 ton tanker, the Erika, left Dunkirk and sailed down the Channel bound for Italy with a cargo of heavy fuel oil. Erika was an old vessel reaching the end of her shelf life. The Erika never made her final destination.