Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 417/2002 on the accelerated phasing in of double hull or equivalent design requirements for single hull oil tankers and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 2978/94" (COM(2002) 780 final — 2002/0310 (COD))
Date: 2003-03-27
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: maritime safety, standardisation, tanker

6.6.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 133/97

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Regulation of
the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 417/2002 on the
accelerated phasing in of double hull or equivalent design requirements for single hull oil tankers
and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 2978/94’

(COM(2002) 780 final — 2002/0310 (COD))

(2003/C 133/19)

On 22 January 2003 the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee under
Article 80(2) of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Specialised Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society which was
responsible for preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 13 March 2003.
The rapporteur was Dr Bredima-Savopoulou.

At its 398th plenary session on 26 and 27 March 2003 (meeting of 27 March) the European Economic
and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 100 votes to 10 with 10 abstentions.

1.

Introduction

operate beyond 23 years and 2005 or 28 years and 2010
for category 2 and 28 years and 2015 for category 3.

The sinking of the tanker ‘Prestige’ (19.11.2002) and
1.1.
the ensuing ecological disaster off the coasts of Spain and later
on spreading to those of France mobilized European public
opinion three years after the similar accident of the tanker
‘Erika’ off the coast of France. The Commission in its Com-
munication on improving safety at sea in response to the
accident (1) announced a number of measures to minimise the
risk of future accidents involving ships such as ‘Erika’ and
‘Prestige’. The Transport Council on 6 December 2002, called
for an acceleration of the calendar for phasing-out of single-
hull tankers, for applying the Condition Assessment Scheme
(CAS) for single hull tankers that are over 15 years of age, as
well as the conclusion of administrative agreements by Member
States with a view of refusing single hull oil tankers carrying
into their ports, terminals and
the heaviest grades of oil
anchorage areas. The conclusions of
the recent Council
meeting in Brussels on 20 and 21 March include a set of
measures which the EESC supports very warmly.

2. The Commission proposal

In order to meet the objectives of

2.1.
the Transport
Council, the Commission proposed the following three amend-
ments to Regulation (EC) No 417/2002 (2):

— A provision that heavy grades of oil shall only be carried

by double hull tankers.

— A revision of the EU phasing out scheme to ensure in
particular that single hull tankers of category 1 will not

( 1) COM(2002) 681 final.
( 2) OJ L 64, 7.3.2002, p. 1, EESC Opinion OJ C 14, 16.1.2001, p. 22.

— A broader application of the special inspection regime
for tankers (the Condition Assessment Scheme), designed
to assess the structural soundness of single hull tankers
that have passed the age of 15 years.

2.2.
The severe oil spill resulting from the ‘Prestige’ com-
pelled the Commission to reconsider the phasing out scheme
under Regulation (EC) No 417/2002. The purpose of the
proposed revision of the phasing out scheme is to lower the
age limits and cut-off dates to the level as initially proposed in
the ‘Erika’ I package in order to ensure a better protection of
the marine environment. The Commission is aware of the
considerable economic impact on the tanker industry and
intends to present an economic analysis as soon as possible.

2.3.
As with the ‘Erika’ accident heavy fuel oil proved once
again to be among the most polluting types of oil, hence, the
Commission’s proposal to prohibit the transport of heavy
grades of oil in single-hulled tankers bound for or leaving EU
ports. The Commission asserts that there is today a sufficient
capacity of double hull oil tankers to ensure that there will be
no disturbance of security of supply.

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3. General comments

3.1.
The EESC expresses its deep concern for the disaster of
the tanker ‘Prestige’ and the ensuing social, environmental and
economic consequences. It is thankful that no loss of life
occurred. It is of the utmost urgency that every effort should
be exerted so that the occurrence of such incidents is minimised
and the victims are fully compensated. There is an obligation
for all parties concerned to give priority to urgently reviewing
the effectiveness of the current regime for the carriage of oil
by sea. Future measures should be adequate and address the
real causes of such incidents.

3.1.1.
The circumstances and causes of the Prestige incident
are still under investigation. Although it is probable that, if the
ship had been taken immediately to a place of refuge, the
disaster might have been contained, it is possible to point to
some of these causes or a combination of causes: structural
failures in the ship which was 26 years old; maintenance
shortcomings; decisions or lack thereof on dealing with
the incident which compounded the problem; inappropriate
manœuvres etc.

3.2.
Despite the precedent of the tanker ‘Erika’ (which was
also refused a place of refuge) and the repeated and consistent
calls for a clear and adequate regime of places of refuge for
ships in distress, the regime is still unclear. The EESC recalls its
opinion on the proposal for the accelerated phasing-in of
double hull tankers (Erika I package) (1) and its opinion on the
Erika II package(2) and reiterates its call to address and resolve
this politically unpopular issue. Therefore, it fully supports the
proposal for speeding up the preparations of the plans to
accommodate vessels in places of refuge. What is required is
the designation of places of refuge in the EU waters, the
implementation by EU Member States of the International
Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and
Cooperation (OPRC Convention 1990) as requested in its
Opinion on the Erika I package and a clear-cut emergency
response plan and procedures for implementation when a ship
in distress needs to be taken to such a place. The plan should
stipulate the obligations of the master, the coastal state and
the salvor. All these actions have to be clarified and co-
ordinated by one single authority preferably at EU level by the
European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).

The EESC reiterates the concern (3) expressed in pre-
3.3.
vious opinions that economic pressure on masters and crews
who continue to serve on board substandard ships may have
an impact on ship safety. Therefore, crew members must be
encouraged to report anomalies on board likely to cause
accidents and subsequently must be given proper protection
by EU legislation. In the Committee’s view the human dimen-
sion of safety must be taken into consideration as a matter of
urgency if the proposed technical measures are to be applied
effectively under favourable conditions. The EESC expresses its
concern about the continued attitude of regulators who view
shipmasters as having the overriding responsibility of ships. In
reality, in present day shipping operations the masters real
power and resources have been severely constrained. Since
many national authorities still target the master and ships
officers through the legal system in preference to searching
through the bureaucratic maze of ownership and control of
ships,
liability of all
parties involved in maritime transport. In light of the above
considerations, the EESC reiterates its previous calls on the
Commission to draw up appropriate proposals, for example
in a new ‘Erika III’ package on the human dimension, thus
making for a comprehensive and integrated approach to
maritime safety.

is necessary to clarify the legal

it

3.4.
The proposal for a regulation is an immediate response
to the Prestige accident. The EESC urges that as soon as the
outcome of the investigation is known, whatever supplemen-
tary measures it may judge necessary be implemented. How-
ever, the EESC points out that the double hull is not in itself
sufficient to solve the enormous problem of environmental
disasters caused by accidents involving oil tankers, and that
other measures are essential.

3.5.
The EESC recalls that with its opinion on the Erika I
package it expressed the view that the measures taken at
international
level to improve safety and reduce accidental
pollution have brought about considerable drop in the inci-
dence of such pollution. Pollution caused by ships is far from
being the only source of maritime pollution, although its
importance should not be minimised, bearing in mind that
ships account for an estimated 15 % of total pollution. It
should be noted that large oil tankers transport huge quantities
(the Prestige was carrying 77 000 tonnes of oil), hence
concentrating the damage. It also is recognised that discharges
from urban areas and land-based economic activities account

( 1) OJ C 14, 16.1.2001, p. 22.
( 2) OJ C 221, 7.8.2001, p. 54.

(3) OJ C 14, 16.1.2001, p. 22 and OJ C 221, 7.8.2001, p. 54.

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for two-thirds of marine pollution along coastlines and in
estuaries, and drastic reductions must be made for these
discharges. While welcoming measures proposed to reduce
maritime pollution caused by ships, the EESC would like to
see a similar approach to maritime pollution caused by
discharges from urban areas and land based economic activi-
ties (1).

The implementation of

3.9.
the Commission proposal
creates the urgent need for new vessels which meet the new
requirements. For reasons of safety, guarantees and strategy,
the Community’s shipbuilding policy will have to be analysed
and reconsidered so as to facilitate the construction of ships in
European yards and draw up a European plan for financing
the replacement of scrapped vessels.

3.6.
The principle of proportionality — enshrined in the
jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice and EU law —
should be observed in all
instances. Proportionality of the
proposed measures should refer not only to the consequences
but also to the real causes of the incident. The EESC wonders
what would be the EU reaction in similar incidents of double
hull ships which cannot be excluded in the near future as they
develop their commercial life.

4. Specific comments

The EESC believes that the EU should adopt a balanced
4.1.
policy taking into account the environmental, economic and
social effects in line with the stipulations of the Göteborg
Summit for a sustainable assessment of EU actions.

The EESC maintains that there is pressing need to

4.2.
implement rapidly and effectively the following:

3.7.
The EESC subscribes to the general view that maritime
accidents are the result of ineffective implementation or
infringements of the existing legislation rather than its inad-
equacy. Therefore, the EESC fully supports the earlier appli-
cation of the measures in the Erika I and Erika II packages and
the priority attached to them by the Commission. The
measures should be applied rigorously and in parallel.

— a clear-cut regime on places of refuge

— the introduction of contingency plans for accidents

— the intensification of supervisory measures

3.8.
The sense of urgency to address highly sensitive
economic, social and environmental issues should not disre-
gard the rules of international law. In a string of past opinions
since 1993 the EESC has been consistently advocating that
regulations relating to maritime safety and pollution preven-
tion affecting international shipping should stem from the
competent International Maritime Organization (IMO). Unilat-
eral measures may undermine the IMO status and trigger off
unilateralism by third countries that may seriously curtail the
important cross trading activities of the EU fleet. There are
already indications for such action from the US and some
Asian countries. Therefore, it is desirable to ensure that EU
rules on maritime safety and protection of the maritime
environment take into account the fact that EU waters must
remain open without discrimination to all vessels which meet
international standards. In light of the above considerations
and of the international character of maritime transport, the
proposed measures should be referred to IMO for a possible
global application.

( 1) EESC Opinion to be adopted on Marine Environment (NAT/166).

— the need to clarify the legal liability of all parties involved

in maritime transport

— improved vocational skills for crews

— requiring repairs to be carried out at dockyards offering
guaranteed quality, thus ensuring safety, more stringent
technical standards for the design and construction of
vessels

— a stronger enforcement of the port state control Directive

— the more rapid implementation of the Directive requiring

greater transparency of classification societies

— the ratification by EU Member States of the Bunkers
Convention and the Hazardous and Noxious Substances
(HNS) Convention.

4.3.
In view of the serious socio-economic implications and
of the international character of shipping, the EU Member
States, under speedy procedures, should endeavour to intro-
duce through IMO for global application a satisfactory acceler-
ated phasing-out schedule for single-hull tankers which would
be aligned with the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) schedule of the

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US. The EU initiative in IMO should be taken without prejudice
to the right and obligation to ensure timely and adequate
environmental protection at EU level.

5.2.
Despite the precedent of the Erika accident and the
ensuing mobilization of the EU institutions which resulted in
two legislative packages (Erika I and II), the EESC regrets that
another ecological disaster has occurred from the sinking of
the tanker Prestige.

The EESC supports the banning of single-hull tankers
4.4.
for the carriage of the most polluting heavy grades of oil.
However, the proposal may create both supply and refining
difficulties in the EU exacerbated by the war in Iraq. It should
be noted that much of the heavy crude oil imported in the EU
is produced in the North Sea and transported in specialized
high quality single-hull shuttle tankers. These vessels are
unique to the North Sea operation and are of a high
standard.
In this context, derogations could be envisaged
where appropriate.

The banning of carriage of heavy grades of oil will
4.5.
affect all single-hull oil tankers from 600 dwt and above.
However, the majority of those below 5 000 dwt are engaged
in short-sea shipping and domestic voyages. Moreover, there
are very few double-hull tankers actually to provide these
operations. Mindful of the need to safeguard vital bunkering
operations in the EU and to maintain supplies to locations that
depend on sea transport for their oil (e.g. the servicing of
islands), the EESC would propose that for single hull tankers
below 5 000 dwt the banning measures are introduced in a
progressive manner. The EU should propose to the IMO the
designation under the Marpol Convention of highly sensitive
environmental areas (e.g. Venice, Bocche di Bonifaccio) as
‘areas to be avoided’ by tankers carrying heavy fuel oil.
Moreover, the EU and the IMO should cooperate to establish,
in accordance with the SOLAS Convention, mandatory routing
systems along the EU coasts for single-hull tankers carrying
higher polluting oils.

4.6.
The EESC welcomes the proposal whereby there is a
broader CAS inspection regime to assess the structural sound-
ness of single-hull tankers that have passed the age of 15 years.
In the case of ageing ships, a thorough inspection of vital parts
of the hull is essential to detect possible weaknesses in order
to rectify them and reduce the risk of breaking up in heavy
seas.

5.3.
The EESC deplores the fact that its repeated calls (in its
opinions on the Erika I and II packages) for a number of
concrete measures have not materialized. Therefore, it feels
compelled to reiterate them hoping that they will be taken
into account in order to avoid the occurrence of similar
accidents in the future.

5.4.
The circumstances of the Prestige incident raise a
number of questions which merit attention so that reasonable,
practical and proportionate measures, which will address the
causes of similar incidents, can be taken. Therefore, an
investigation into the causes of the incident and compensation
to the victims is of the utmost priority.

In line with the Göteborg Summit stipulations present
5.5.
action should be subject to a sustainability impact assessment
covering its potential economic, social and environmental
consequences. A cost/benefit impact study prescribing an
overall balanced policy is urgently requested. Hence, trade
must go hand in hand with maritime safety and environmental
protection.

5.6.
The EESC believes that there is a compelling need for
the earliest and rigorous application of the Erika I and II
packages and the urgent introduction of a regime on places of
refuge and contingency planning with a clear line of authority
to assist vessels in distress preferably at EU level by EMSA.

5.7.

The EESC requests:

— the introduction of contingency plans for accidents;

5. Conclusions

— the intensification of supervisory measures;

5.1. Without prejudice to the remarks above, the EESC
supports the proposal for a Regulation on the accelerated
phasing in of double hull or equivalent design requirements,
submitted by the Commission.

— the need to clarify the legal liability of all parties involved

in maritime transport;

— improved vocational skills for crews;

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— requiring repairs to be carried out at dockyards offering
guaranteed quality, thus ensuring safety, more stringent
technical standards for the design and construction of
vessels;

— a stronger enforcement of the port state control Directive;

— the more rapid implementation of the Directive requiring

greater transparency of classification societies;

— the ratification by EU Member States of the Hazardous
and Noxious Substances Convention (HNS) and the
Bunkers Convention;

— the implementation by EU Member States of the Oil
Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation Con-
vention 1990 (OPRC);

— the adoption of an Erika III package of measures address-
ing the involvement of the human factor in maritime
safety;

— more stringent application of the Convention on training,
certification and watchkeeping for seafarers (STCW 78/
95);

— an obligation upon shipping companies operating cargo
(oil, gas or chemical products) or passenger vessels within
the EU to carry out a risk assessment for maritime
transport activities in Community waters and ports
for each vessel or group of vessels with the same
characteristics. For this purpose, the IMO Guidelines for
formal safety assessment (FSA Guidelines) should be used
as a reference. The risk assessment must be approved by
the maritime authority of the country in which the
company is located, as should monitoring and any
revisions of the assessment.

5.8.
In view of the serious socio-economic implications and
of the international character of shipping the EU Member

Brussels, 27 March 2003.

States, under speedy procedures, should endeavour to intro-
duce through IMO for global application a satisfactory acceler-
ated phasing-out schedule for single-hull tankers which would
be aligned with the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) schedule of the
US. The EU initiative in IMO should be taken without prejudice
to the right and obligation to ensure timely and adequate
environmental protection at EU level.

5.9.
The EESC supports the banning of single-hull tankers
for the carriage of the most polluting heavy grades of oil.
In this context, derogations could be envisaged where
appropriate.

5.10.
The proposed banning of single-hull tankers from
600-5 000 dwt would seriously affect bunkering operations in
the EU and put at risk the supply of islands and other locations
that depend on sea transport for their oil. It would also be
hampering the promotion of the European short-sea shipping
sector. Therefore, for single-hull tankers below 5 000 dwt. the
banning measures could be introduced in a progressive
manner.

The EU should propose to the IMO the designation
5.11.
under the Marpol Convention of highly sensitive environmen-
tal areas as ‘areas to be avoided’ by tankers carrying heavy fuel
oil. The EU and the IMO should cooperate to establish, in
accordance with the Solas Convention, mandatory routing
systems along the EU coasts for single-hull tankers carrying
higher polluting oils.

5.12.
The EESC welcomes the proposal whereby there is
a broader CAS inspection regime to assess the structural
soundness of single-hull tankers that have passed the age of
15 years.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Roger BRIESCH