Vol. 429 No. 3
8 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for the Marine if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EC Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels on 15 March 1993; if Ireland sought the banning of flags of convenience ships from Community waters in view of the recent disaster involving the MV Braer; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The EC Maritime Transport Council on 15 March 1993 held a preliminary exchange of views on the Commission's Communication on "A Common Policy on Safe Seas". The Commission Communication presents a programme of action to improve maritime safety and prevention of marine pollution through the elimination of substandard operators, vessels and crews from Community waters irrespective of the flag of the ships. At the Council I welcomed the thrust of the Commission's proposals and urged the implementation of the action programme as quickly as possible. I stressed that it is only through concerted action at Community level that substandard ships can effectively be eliminated from Community waters.
The Deputy will be aware that shipping is an international industry and under the Law of the Sea Convention all ships have the right of innocent passage through any state's territorial waters. Given the global character of the shipping industry, most of the rules and standards for ships are negotiated in the International Maritime Organisation. This international regulatory framework is of fundamental importance and it is in that context that performance standards for flag states must be enforced.
There is a striking variation in the level of safety performance between world shipping fleets, largely due to the different levels at which flag states implement and enforce the internationally agreed standards — and this, is by no means confined to the so-called flags of convenience.
The Commission's proposal, quite correctly, focuses on the need to ensure, that member states apply uniformly high standards to ships flying their flags and that member states take a co-ordinated uniform approach to enforcing the same standards on ships of all flags operating in Community waters.
In light of this I urged that priority be given to the following measures: promotion of and compliance with enhanced international rules and standards on construction, equipment, operation, maintenance and general safety of all ships; enhanced level of port state control inspection of foreign ships coming into ports; identification of ecologically sensitive coastal areas and the introduction of measures for their protection; the introduction of ship traffic reporting and monitoring systems; and early adoption of the Council Directive on reporting requirements for vessels carrying dangerous or polluting cargoes into and out of Community ports. The directive should also be expanded to provide for comprehensive reporting systems for ships transiting along Community coasts.
I hope that the intensive programme of work to advance these and other measures will proceed quickly. It is vital that Ministers are presented with a number of concrete measures for approval at the next Council in June. This will mark the critical first steps towards better implementation and enforcement of safety standards by all ships irrespective of the flag under which they operate.
How soon does the Minister think action might be taken on the Commission's communication on action required following the accident on the Shetlands? Was there any decision with regard to the possibility of a European coastguard service at the Council meeting which the Minister attended and were there any discussions on what steps might be taken to monitor and restrict the carrying of dangerous and polluting goods on ships in territorial waters, or at least in Community waters?
While there was an awareness of the dangers of ships carrying certain cargos, there was no discussion about a European coastguard. There was an awareness of the need to have some type of control over ships approaching from the west, in respect of which Ireland would be very vulnerable in accidents of this kind. From that point of view I was happy with the response. I hope the proposals put before the Commission in June will be satisfactory at that stage.
The Minister is aware, I am sure, that there is massive lobbying by the oil industry, who are resisting requirements to update oil tankers, which have posed the greatest risk to marine life in recent years. Was that matter discussed and have any steps been taken to overcome the problem?
That matter was touched on briefly because there is an awareness now in the International Maritime Organisation that some oil companies are renting inferior ships and that there is a danger that these ships may not be seaworthy. The IMO are the body who will be most effective in controlling that type of activity. That will be taken on board at the next meeting in June.
