WRITTEN QUESTION E-0420/03

by Marjo Matikainen-Kallström (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(17 February 2003)

Subject: The Stemnitsa

The EU's future director of maritime safety, Willem de Ruiter, has informed the Finnish media that the hazard posed by the oil tanker Stemnitsa operating in the Baltic is a matter to be resolved bilaterally by Finland and Russia, and that the EU cannot do anything about it.

Why can the EU supposedly not take any action in this respect? The Stemnitsa is sailing under the Greek flag, so that the matter can hardly be regarded as purely one for Finland and Russia. Moreover, the Baltic is virtually an internal sea of the EU: protecting the Baltic is even a major aspect of the Northern Dimension programme.

According to Mr de Ruiter, no Community standards exist for the protection of oil tankers against ice pressure. Yet ice is a natural annual phenomenon in the Northern parts of the EU. It is difficult to see, therefore, how it would be possible to maintain that the matter does not concern the EU.

What will the Commission do to prevent oil tankers like the Stemnitsa, which are inadequately protected against ice pressure, from operating in conditions for which they are not designed and in which they present a serious safety hazard?

Joint answerto Written Questions E-0384/03, P-0408/03, E-0410/03 and E-0420/03given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(14 March 2003)

The Commission is aware of the problem of navigation in the Gulf of Finland and shares the concern of the Finnish authorities about the risks connected with the transport of hydrocarbons by sea under winter conditions.

The Commission has closely monitored the situation brought about by the voyage of the oil tanker Stemnitsa to the Primorski terminal. It has informed the Russian authorities of its concern about the exceptionally difficult ice conditions in the Gulf of Finland.

Following the ERIKA and Prestige disasters, the Commission has repeatedly highlighted the urgent need for harmonised measures to prevent new disasters in the Union's external waters, including the Baltic. Under the agreement between the Union and Russia, contacts have been established with the Russian authorities to ensure compliance with the measures which the EU intends to take to secure the transport of hydrocarbons by sea, and in particular to ban the transport of heavy fuel by single-hull tankers.

However, it should be noted that the Union does not have any legal authority to regulate the passage through international waters of vessels carrying potentially dangerous cargo, even near the coast of the Member States and even if such cargo is carried under the icy conditions prevailing in the Baltic in winter.

Accordingly, the Commission deems it necessary to amend the international law of the sea so as to ensure a better balance between freedom of movement and the interests of coastal States who should be able to protect their coast against ecological disasters.

The Commission has asked all of the Union's neighbouring countries as well as its main partners to take firmer action to improve the international legal rules governing pollution caused by ships. It has asked all Member States for their support to actively promote within the United Nations, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and other competent bodies the adaptation of the provisions of the law of the sea to the new maritime safety requirements in the 21st century.

Finally, the Commission should like to point out that newspaper reports do not necessarily represent the Commission's position nor, as in the present case, that of the Executive Director of the Maritime Safety Agency.

As for the specific question of navigation under icy conditions, it should be noted that there are currently no Community rules dealing with this and that such rules could not cover vessels on transit journeys not calling at the Union's ports. However, in the framework of measures already taken by the Union to prevent oil tanker accidents, the Directive on monitoring and controlling maritime traffic enables the competent authorities to prevent ships from leaving port in very poor weather conditions. The Directive also gives wider powers to the Member States to intervene when there is a risk of accident or pollution.

In any case, the Commission is ready to fully support the efforts of the Finnish authorities to work towards an agreement with the countries around the Gulf of Finland on safety rules for the maritime transport of hydrocarbons under icy conditions.