Oil Tanker Update
Greenpeace continues to campaign against unsafe oil tankers in the aftermath of the disastrous Prestige spill off the
coast of Spain.
After delaying the departure of the Byzantio, chartered by the same company, Crown Resources, that chartered the
Prestige, Greenpeace activists confronted the ship off the coast of Denmark and then attached a banner and climbed the
ship when it docked in Rotterdam this afternoon.
As well today, Greenpeace activists "decorated" the headquarters of Crown Resources in Zug, Switzerland with waste from
the Prestige spill.
More than ten thousand people from around the world have sent letters to the International Maritime Organization. This
is the fastest response ever to a Greenpeace international cyberaction. Thank you to everyone who has participated.
If you haven't sent your letter yet, please do so now here:
Thank you also to the more than 1200 people who wrote to the Estonian trasport minister last Friday.
You can join the over 500 people who have posted comments on the Prestige spill here:
http://act.greenpeace.org/1037731467
You can also donate to our campaign to replace fossil fuels with clean energy sources here:
https://www.greenpeace.com/forms/gpiconpre.html
We are now awaiting the outcome of the European Union transport ministers meeting taking place in Brussels over the next
two days.
Please check http://www.greenpeace.org for the latest news.
Here's the latest news release:
Greenpeace protests against "Floating Dustbin" in Rotterdam Harbour
Rotterdam, 4 December 2002 - Greenpeace activists today continue to highlight the threat of unsafe transport vessels in
the world's oceans. Activists climbed the now infamous "floating dustbin", the Byzantio, a 26 year old, single hulled
vessel transporting over 50,000 tonnes of oil and hung a banner, which read "oil hazard" onboard. Other activists were
set to paint the same words on the hull of the ship.
Today’s action comes in the run-up to tomorrow’s Transport, Energy and Telecommunications EU Council Ministers' meeting
in Brussels. They are expected to announce measures for improving maritime safety to reduce the risk of accidents. On
December 12 and 13 the EU Heads of Government will meet and will be discussing the issue of maritime safety.
On December 3rd, the European Commission requested that member states speed up the implementation of safety measures
adopted after the Erika oil spill three years ago. But these measures will not be sufficient to prevent another
disaster, says Greenpeace. The EU Commission also published a list of 66 vessels that have been classified as "highly
dangerous", ironically, neither the disastrous Prestige, nor the Byzantio appear on this list.
"When are politicians going to wake up and realise that tackling this mess goes beyond mere suggestions," said Marietta
Harjono of Greenpeace. "Now is the time for European governments to take action and stop these old rust buckets from
causing more damage to the oceans. Now is the time for immediate implementation of effective safety measures."
Greenpeace is demanding full and unlimited liability throughout the chain of responsibilities, including the owners,
managers and operators of a vessel and of any charterers or owners of the cargo. Additionally, Greenpeace is demanding
that the EU immediately ban the use of single hulled tankers and exclude ecologically sensitive areas from shipping
routes.
Concurrently, activists in Switzerland have sent a message to Crown Resources, the company that has chartered both the
Byzantio and the Prestige: Clean up your mess now! pointing to the fact that as charterers of the Prestige they should
be held responsible for the ecological disaster.
On Friday, November 29 Greenpeace began to highlight the imminent passage of the Byzantio through the same route as the
ill-fate Prestige that broke off and sank off the coast of Spain earlier last month. Greenpeace activists delayed the
Byzantio's departure from Tallinn, Estonia during 5 hours. Two days later, Greenpeace activists in inflatables escorted
the Byzantio through the Danish Belts, drawing attention to the dangerous shipment by hanging banners with the word
"Hazard" on the hull.