Oil Tankers Get A Bad Rap, Say Experts

Oil tankers get a lot of bad press, but shipping causes only a small amount of marine pollution, maritime experts said. "Shipping is less polluting than most other transport modes. It is responsible for only some 12 percent of marine pollution," Mats Lindau, quality manager of marine insurer the Swedish Club said. Although land sources from polluted rivers are the cause of most pollution, he said, public perceptions of shipping remain negative. Tim Wilkins, a marine biologist at tanker owners organization Intertanko, said 62 percent of oil pollution at sea came from industrial waste. About three percent resulted from tanker accidents, while another seven percent was caused by loading and other operations. Wilkins said tanker owners had largely accepted their liabilities but that pressure needed to be put on port operators through governments and the IMO to ensure they fulfill their responsibilities. According to USCG figures, engine oil spills and oil waste discharges from other vessels massively outstripped cargo losses from tankers, Wilkins said. International regulations call for ports to provide facilities, but shipping sources say they are still lacking. Pointing to chemical waste as a major problem, Roger Lankester of Friends of the Earth, said there were only two oil/chemical reception sites in Britain. Critics have pointed out that the international standard does not actually require progressive improvements in environmental performance, only in the management of standards. But shipping experts said that process would lead to direct improvements for the environment. They called for greater attention to be paid to ship designs to reduce waste pollution problems, and for charter clauses allowing ships' masters more power to take account of adverse conditions.