China is likely to ask all ships plying its seawaters to buy
insurance and set up a fund to contribute to the huge amount needed
to clean-up oil leaks.
The two measures are part of the to-be-revised draft of rules to
prevent ships from polluting the ocean environment, Yang Xinzhai,
director of the ship safety and pollution prevention department
with China Maritime Safety Administration, said yesterday.
If the State Council approves the draft nearly 20,000 ships will
have to abide by the new rules. China's three big petroleum
companies, too, would contribute to the fund. The official,
however, refused to say how large the fund might be.
The quality of water in China's coastal areas has been
deteriorating. Official data indicates that by 2006 China had
120,000 square kilometers of oil-polluted seawaters. The Bohai Sea
is the most seriously affected with a third of the polluted area
being in its range.
"The major sources of pollution are inland rivers and factories
in the coastal areas but ships also account for part of the
pollution," the official said.
Existing laws stipulate a company has to pay the clean-up cost
of oil leaks from one of its vessels.
On average an oil leak requires 100 million yuan (US$12.9
million) to clean up and to compensate the fishing and tourism
industries.
As no shipping company could afford such huge amounts an
international convention asks member economies to pay the sum and
to set up a fund to cover the costs.
The administration also wants to apply international regulations
to China. But since the measures involve the interests of petroleum
and shipping companies the suggestion hasn’t been put to the test
after it was made at an international maritime safety forum in
2005.
"We’ll continue our efforts this year to set up the compensation
mechanism to prevent and fight oil pollution caused by ships," Liu
Gongcheng, deputy director of China Maritime Safety Administration
under the Ministry of Communications, told a working conference
yesterday.
The administration has also decided to strengthen anti-pollution
infrastructure, he said. Major oil ports must have facilities to
deal with oil leaks. The administration will organize a drill near
Qinhuangdao in Hebei Province in the first half of this year
on how to deal with spillages.
More than 80 oil leaks were reported in Chinese waters between
2000 and 2004. The latest was on December 31, 2006, in Guangdong Province. Though the 5,000-ton
vessel involved had delivered the oil it was carrying it was on
fire for 8 hours. Two crew members died and five others were
injured. But the Guangdong maritime safety bureau acted swiftly to
prevent the remaining oil onboard from leaking, Nanfang
Daily reported.
All Chinese vessels plying international waters are covered by
insurance in accordance with international conventions. But China
has not yet joined the convention for a fund to combat oil
pollution.
(China Daily January 19, 2007)
