Morocco lifts ban on Spanish fishing boats

To give succour to those affected by the huge slick from the oil tanker Prestige, Morocco has temporarily lifted its ban on Spanish fishing boats. The move should ease the strained relations between the nations. And for Galician fisherfolk, it is a timely respite.The vessel sank in the coastal waters of northwest Spain in November 2002.

The slippery lifeline

Problem in the pipeline

Frequent oil spills are wreaking havoc on the delta town of Okpella in Nigeria's Edo state. In the most recent incident, a pipeline of Nigerian National Petroleum Company -- a state-owned concern -- ruptured and spilled refined crude oil into the environment. The oil first seeped into the underground water supply and then into a stream which also serves as a drinking water source for many.

Clipped wings

ships are using Canada's ocean coast as dumping grounds, which has resulted in the death of 300,000 birds per year. Activists allege that low fines on dumping bilge (a mixture of water, oil and other engine fluids) in Canadian ports has prompted ships to increasingly deposit such waste off the coast.

Spillage damages

In January 2001, the Jessica -- a commercial boat insured by London-based Terra Nova Insurance Company -- spilled 662,447 litres of fuel when it ran aground in the Galapagos archipelago. Taking note of the incident, the court in the port city of Guayaquil in Ecuador recently ordered the insurance company to pay Galapagos National Park US $10 million for the damage suffered by the marine reserve.

Oil's well that ends well

Oil industry heavyweight Pemex had to throw in the towel recently when a group of irate fisherfolk brought operations at its refinery in Salina Cruz, in Mexico's southern state of Oaxaca, to a grinding halt. The protesters were demanding compensation for damage which, they claim, was caused by a diesel fuel leak that occurred when a pipeline was illegally tapped last April in Juchitan, Oaxaca.

Stiff penalty

Pollute and pay. Angola has communicated this to all business establishments operating in the country. In a major haul-up, the African nation has fined us oil major ChevronTexaco Corporation us $2 million for polluting beaches and damaging fishing prospects in the Cabinda region. Angola has notified the company about the penalty and also intimated the country's Supreme Court and the petroleum ministry.

Spilling the beans

oil spills could mean far worse for the environment than they have been blamed for till date, shows a recent study conducted in the Galapagos Islands located off the coast of Ecuador. In January 2001 the tanker Jessica, belonging to Petrocomercial, an arm of the Ecuadorian state oil company, had run aground, dunking 150,000 gallons of oil into the ocean around the island of San Cristbal.

Nigeria

Oil tankers or production companies responsible for oil spills in Nigeria's territorial waters could face a fine of up to us $176 million. This was announced by transport minister Ojo Maduekwe at a news conference recently. "This action is taken in our vital national interest to safeguard the nation from oil spillage and pollution," Maduekwe said. He added that the measure applied to oil tanker owners and oil companies producing Nigeria's two million barrels per day of crude in the creeks of the Niger Delta and offshore.

THAILAND

The Thai navy has said that a gas tanker, which sank off the eastern coast of Thailand in 1996, is posing threat to passing ships and should be removed immediately. The sunk tanker still has its cargo of liquefied petroleum gas (lpg) which rose up to the surface recently. Because of its inflammable consignment, the ship could explode if hit by a passing vessel, said captain Yuthana Fakpholngam, the chief of the navy search and rescue centre.