WRITTEN QUESTION E-3004/01

by Bernard Poignant (PSE) to the Commission

(29 October 2001)

Subject: Maritime transport safety

The sinking of the Erika brought a new awareness of the state of some ships navigating in Community waters: badly maintained, sailing under flags of convenience, with unscrupulous owners and crewmembers who count for nothing.

Although, thanks to the Erika I and Erika II packages, Community rules are moving slowly towards enhanced maritime safety protection, for people, ships and the environment, public opinion is impatient and highly critical of the abuses coming to light.

The most recent example is that of the Han, and the last few months of its life can be summarised as follows:

- In August 2000 a 28-year-old, rusty cargo ship arrived in Brest (Finistère, France) to take on board the Erika's pumping equipment. This cargo ship, which was sailing at the time under a Bolivian flag, had a Pakistani crew and was called the Palatial. It was impounded by the maritime authorities, which stipulated more than 40 separate items of repair work. After being purchased by a Greek shipowner (FEF 55 000), it became the Han.

- While the ship was impounded in port, the crew was not paid. The authorities discovered that the Bolivian papers and registration certificates were false: the cargo ship thus no longer had a nationality. It was no longer simply fit for the scrap heap; it was also a ghost ship.

- Finally, in February 2001 the ship regained a nationality: it was registered in Sao Tomé and Principe. After the ship had spent 171 days in dock in Brest, the authorities allowed it to leave, towed by a Polish tug, without the crew, who had been paid and repatriated, but with its cargo, and subject to one condition: banned from the ports which had signed the Paris Memorandum, its destination had to be Piraeus, in Greece, where it would be broken up.

- Six months later, a Portuguese classification company issued a navigation certificate to a ship, the Tom T. This cargo ship was sailing under a Panamanian flag and belonged to a company based in the Marshall Islands in Micronesia It was the Han. What goes around, comes around.

Having been neither scrapped nor repaired, it is continuing to sail in international waters.

Had the Commission made provision for such a case? If so, what action can be taken under Community law to prevent such abuses?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(19 December 2001)

One of the aims of the European maritime safety policy is to eradicate sub-standard shipping and ships, such as appears to be the case with the vessel Tom-T (ex-HAN).

The specific European rules in force relate to Directive 95/21/EC(1) and the Paris memorandum on Port State Control, the application of which in this case has imposed the banning of the vessel from entering any port in the Community area. The fact that the vessel has changed name does not change the banning order of the ship. The Commission has verified in the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) database that the vessel Tom-T is effectively banned from entry into ports of any of the 19 contracting parties working together in the Paris MoU framework. Hence, at this moment it is very unlikely that the vessel is trading or will be trading between European ports.

However, as pointed out, this is an international problem. While the Commission may be successful to ban the vessel in Europe the same vessel may continue to trade elsewhere in the world. Shipowners or operators that do not care to follow any of the internationally agreed rules should not be able to find and fly any flag or trade. Unfortunately that is not the situation. Such problems are to be addressed to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and in this respect the recently published white paper on transport(2) proposes that the Community should become a contracting party to the IMO.

As regards the point mentioned by the Honourable Member concerning the certificates delivered by the Portuguese classification society, it appears following some investigation, that all certificates issued were withdrawn and returned to that classification society in August 2000.

(1) Council Directive 95/21/EC of 19 June 1995 concerning the enforcement, in respect of shipping using Community ports and sailing in the waters under the jurisdiction of the Member States, of international standards for ship safety, pollution prevention and shipboard living and working conditions (port State control), OJ L 157, 7.7.1995.

(2) COM(2001) 370 final European transport policy for 2010: time to decide.