NEwS
Safety pedigree, Erika having frequently changed hands, flags,
Erika blame
and classification societies. He also rejected RINa’s claim
that it should remain immune from prosecution, as
apportioned
representative of the tanker’s flag state, Malta, and said
that it too had been guilty of imprudence in renewing
In a landmark ruling covering the responsibilities of the vessel’s class certification, after an inspection in
owners, class, and charterers in the case of accidents, and November 1999 discovered extensive corrosion in
indeed the reach of the Marpol Convention, oil giant number two ballast tank.
Total and class body RINa have been found culpable
for the 1999 sinking of the oil tanker Erika, along with Environment
shipowner Giuseppe Savarese and technical manager
Antonio Pollaro.
Seaway tough on
A French court ruled that Total SA had responsibility
ballast
for the accident, and ordered that it and RINa pay
maximum fines of €375,000 each, with the owner and The US Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp has
technical manager ordered to pay $75,000 each. In proposed new regulations to prevent the introduction of
addition, all were required to contribute to the €192 invasive species via ships’ ballast water.
million in pollution damages awarded to civil parties, SLSDC administrator Collister Johnson, Jr said the
including the French state. new proposal would require vessels to flush ballast tanks
The ruling, which has been appealed by Total, leaves containing only small amounts of water or sediment with
the oil company exposed to separate lawsuits from local saltwater in an area 200nm from any North American
bodies for the environmental impact of the spill. shore before entering the Seaway.
Erika broke in two and sank in heavy seas in the Bay The proposal would involve an increase in the number
of Biscay 70km off the French coast in December 1999, of ship inspections for ocean-going vessels performed in
spilling 20,000tonnes of fuel oil into the sea. The sinking Montreal by inspectors from the US-Canadian Seaway
directly brought about the tightening of rules covering Corps, the US Coast Guard, and Transport Canada. The
tanker construction, persuading the IMO to accelerate Seaway will also measure the salinity levels of tanks to
the phasing out of single hull tankers. assure that there is a sufficiently high concentration of
Total was found negligent for failing to investigate salt in the ballast water to kill invasive species.
the condition of the 23-year old ship and of not acting Administrator Johnson noted that since 2006 Canada
quickly enough when the accident happened. has required that similar vessels transiting the Seaway
Judge Jean-Baptiste Parlos found the oil company bound for Canadian ports conduct saltwater flushing.
guilty of ‘imprudence’ in accepting Erika as a ship The proposed US rules will ensure that vessels destined
worthy of carrying highly pollutant heavy fuel oil. He for American ports do the same.
said Total must have known the vessel’s age and its Under the proposed rules, ships that fail to saltwater
flush may either return to the open ocean to conduct a
ballast water exchange or must retain the ballast in their
onboard tanks. Non-compliant ships could be fined up
to $36,625 per incident by the SLSDC.
A final rule will be published in late March, prior to
the start of the 2008 navigation season.
Containerships
KR joins ultra class
Korean Register (KR) is to class three new-build ultra-
large containerships. The 10,100TEU vessels, ordered by
Danaos Corp, are to be built by Hyundai Samho Heavy
Industries and will be delivered in 2011.
This is the first time that Danaos has chosen KR as its
class partner.
Danaos president Dr John Coustas said: ‘KR has very
strong technical ties with the major Korean shipyards
and I’m also aware of their finely honed technical
Erika sinks in the Bay of Biscay, 12 December 1999.
 The Naval Architect February 2008
NA Feb 08 - p6+8+10.indd 6 05/02/2008 09:30:21
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