Double-skin bunker tank' legislation moving forward

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

17 May 2008

Politicians in the United States are moving ahead with plans for legislation to require cargo ships to have their bunker tanks protected by double skins. The US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation approved two bills aimed at improving maritime safety and environmental protection. "We cannot let our coastlines, our wildlife or our economy suffer the catastrophic effects of another oil spill," said Senator Frank Lautenberg, who proposed thebills. "These bills bring us closer to modernizing ship designs and harbor operations, making us more confident in the safety of our ocean shipping system."
The senator introduced his legislation in March at a US Senate hearing on the Cosco Busan bunker spill in San Francisco Bay in November last year.
Among other things, his Oil Spill Prevention Act would require ships to have double-skinned bunker tanks. It also calls for improvements to Coast Guard vessel tracking systems.
The container ship Cosco Busan leaked some 220 metric tonnes (mt) of intermediate fuel oil (IFO) into coastal waters after it grazed the base of San Francisco's Bay Bridge, rupturing the side of a single skin bunker tank.
The high-profile spill provoked a flurry of legislative activity. 
Politicians in California have called for the office of the Oil Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) to spend more money on preparing for dealing with oil spills and for a requirement that ships with large bunker fuel tanks increase their insurance cover.

Source: Sustainable Shipping