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| The lack of a ETV could prove crucial during another Sea Empress disaster. | A DECADE on from the Sea Empress disaster, one of the worst oil spills in UK history, little has been done to prevent a similar disaster on Pembrokeshire’s doorstep, environmentalists have said.
Campaign group Friends of the Earth Cymru believes another tanker disaster is inevitable yet the government has done little or nothing to protect Milford Haven, the fourth busiest port in the UK and the entry point for 25% of the nation’s fuel resources.
The group has described the government’s unwillingness to provide an Emergency Towing Vessel (ETV) to supplement the Haven’s standard tugs as “pennypinching and irresponsible”. Currently, the nearest ETVs are 14 hours away at Falmouth in Cornwall or 24 hours away in Minches, northwest Scotland.
The group has likened the government’s unwillingness to fund an ETV for Milford Haven with a refusal to provide ambulances in a rural area.
"Given the pre-eminence of Milford Haven as the nation's premier oil port, the business of the Irish Sea's marine transport sector and the nature of some of the hazardous cargos carried through Irish Sea shipping lanes, it is hard to understand why the Government refuses to fund an emergency towing vessel for the area,” said Pembrokeshire Friends of the Earth spokesperson, Charlie Mason.
"Government sources claim that a vessel for Milford Haven cannot be justified on cost grounds, but for the people and businesses of southwest Wales, this is equivalent to being told we must do without an ambulance service because it cannot be justified on cost.
"The situation is even more serious now with the prospect of tankers carrying hazardous liquefied natural gas (LNG) into Milford Haven in the near future. The extra danger that this presents should surely shake the government out of its complacency on this issue," said Mr Mason.
The Liberian-flagged Sea Empress ran aground on rocks at St Anne’s Head near the entrance to Milford Haven at 8.07pm on February 15th, 1996.
The incident ultimately led to the spilling of 72,000 tonnes of crude oil onto Pembrokeshire’s coast, killing thousands of seabirds, fish and animals and leading to the extinction of some forms of crustacean.
The disaster could, it now seems, have been contained at a much earlier stage with far less loss of oil, but delays, bad weather and human error, saw the salvage operation dragged out for almost a week, leading to the amount of crude oil lost rising from an initial spill of 2,500 tonnes to becoming on of the worst spills in British maritime history.
Milford Haven Port Authority was initially fined £4m, later reduced on appeal to £750,000, after admitting culpability for its part in the disaster.
The port’s Harbour Master was found not guilty of causing widespread pollution after he denied the charge at the trial in Cardiff Crown Court in 1999, but experienced pilots who worked on the Sea Empress disaster have questioned his decision-making and leadership during the incident.
In an interview in yesterday’s Western Mail, Harbour Master Mark Andrews said that he believed he acted correctly during the incident and would follow exactly the same course of action again in similar circumstances.
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| Harbour Master Mark Andrews has said that he would do nothing differently should another Sea Empress disaster occur. | “The only thing that stands out for me that we should have done differently is that I thought we allowed too many people on the ship,” Mr Andrews said.
However, some of the Haven’s retired pilots disagree with this view and point to the report from the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) on the handling of the Sea Empress disaster as proof positive that the Port Authority and Mr Andrews failed in their duty to protect the coast from pollution.
The dispute centres on Mr Andrew’s failure, despite advice to the contrary, to send the stricken vessel to the then Herbrandston jetty soon after its initial grounding.
The MAIB report states that the possibility of moving the Sea Empress to Herbrandston was dismissed because of the vessel’s listing to starboard with a 23.5 metre draught. However, the inquiry goes on to question why the possibility of reducing the draught of the vessel through the introduction of sea water ballast was never put to the emergency teams.
“The inquiry does not wish to suggest that this alternative course of action should have been followed, this would unfair since such a suggestion can only be made with the full benefit of hindsight. “Operational decisions are made on the basis of information available at the time,” the report states.
“However, this significant item of information did not come to light at the time and it is important to understand why this was.”
“The option to bring the casualty directly into Herbrandston Jetty was dismissed without detailed analysis [..].
The report goes on to state that the Harbour Master imposed a draught restriction despite the pilots assuring him it would have been possible to berth the Sea Empress at Herbrandston safely within two days of the initial incident.
The pilots claim the Harbour Master was informed at least twice of the possibility, which would, most probably, have saved the Sea Empress from the subsequent storms which led to the loss of another 70,000 tonnes of crude.
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