The Department of the Marine has begun an international campaign to crack down on oil pollution at sea. Irish officials will lobby the European Union and the United Nations to impose much tougher fines on owners of ships that have leaked oil. The Government will also spend £17 million on a ship to deal with threats of pollution.
Tankers carrying 70% of all Europe's oil supplies pass off the South Coast. So the Irish coastline is particularly vulnerable to the threat of oil pollution. But from even farther away there can be problems. Pollution from the Sea Empress spillage off Milford Haven affected the East Coast and the huge level of pollution from the tanker Erika which broke apart off France at Christmas affected bird populations which frequent Ireland. So pollution anywhere on the European coastline can be too close for comfort.
This week's incident off Bray also caused a lot of concern, so the Minister for the Marine has decided to go ahead with the purchase of a new towing vessel, dedicated to deal with emergencies. It could cost up to £15 million. As well, the level of potential fines for pollution in Irish waters has been increased to £195 million. But pollution cannot be dealt with by one country only, so Department officials are drafting a campaign to involve the European Union and the United Nations in joint action. Because the condition of quite a few ships which caused pollution has been questionable the Irish approach also proposes a more fundamental change, making inspectors who approve those ships to go to sea responsible for their actions.
