Maritime safety: facts and proposals for the European OPA

Following the marine accident of Erika off the French coast in 1999 shipping administration (and especially the European Union) – in its familiar reactive way – is ready to legislate against tankers of more than 15 years of age, against negligent classification societies and against single‐hull tankers. The positive fact is the initiative of the European Parliament and the Council to set up a community framework for cooperation in the field of accidental or deliberate marine pollution. Moreover, the EU fears that all sub‐standard tankers will eventually be banned from the USA – due to the gradual enforcement of the Oil Pollution Act 1990 – and will come to European waters to continue their polluting habits. So, Europe is about to legislate its own Oil Pollution Act, on even stricter terms than the USA. Provides a survey of the issues involved by setting down the correct – in the author’s opinion – facts about marine accidents, the misunderstanding of which has negated the effectiveness of all measures taken so far against marine accidents.