Editorial

Spain's anguish over the damage the oil spill from the tanker Prestige is doing to its shores is quite understandable. If, God forbid, an oil spill of such magnitude were to hit Malta, the harm to the island's tourist industry would be incalculable. It is also quite logical that Spain, and other countries that feel threatened by the possibility of oil spills hitting their shores, act in defence of their interests.

What is manifestly unfair though is picking on Malta for an accident over which the island had absolutely no control. Why would both Spain and France turn away from their waters Malta-flagged ships which have been inspected only recently?

Why would so much attention be particularly focused on Maltese registered ships when there are also single-hulled ships of similar age plying the seas and carrying the same kind of oil carried by the Prestige before it split into two and sank some 150 miles off the Spanish coast?

It is true that the Maltese flag had a bad name in the past, but a great effort is being made to cleanse the register, particularly in the wake of the sinking of the Maltese-registered ship Erika some three years go.

Transport Minister Censu Galea, bringing up the subject in parliament, must have felt quite aggrieved by the Spanish action against the Malta-flagged ship.

He said the ship ordered out of the country's waters last Saturday had been certified as safe by the Spanish authorities themselves only a month ago. And even the Byzantio, over which Greenpeace has made so much fuss, had been inspected just a few days ago by Det Norske Veritas which, said the minister, was one of the most respected certification companies in the world. So why have these countries turned their guns on Malta? Were there no single-hull ships plying the same waters at the time at all?

Joe Debono Grech has never been a man to mince his words. When the transport minister brought up the matter in parliament, he stood four square with him. In fact, he went even further than Dr Galea himself in his assessment of the matter. He said that war was being waged on the Malta Maritime Authority on a number of fronts because foreigners were envious of its seriousness and success.

Malta, said Mr Debono Grech, had been unjustly blamed for the sinking of the Erika when what happened was clearly the result of the stubbornness of the ship owners and charterers.

Malta has already gone on record as declaring that it would not allow any single hulled tankers on its register after 2015. So, its intentions are quite clear, as they have been over the past few years. In fact, according to information given by the minister himself in parliament, detentions of Maltese flagged ships had this year dropped to their lowest ever at 7.8 per cent, a figure which was lower than the average of all shipping registers.

Malta needs to make this point forcefully at the right places. Also important is that no Maltese flagged ships are on the EU blacklist, just published. It is now up to the authority and the government to make the necessary representations to the governments concerned to protect the island's interests.