Malta has come under fire from the French shipowners' association, the Armateurs de France, for using diplomatic immunity to avoid prosecution in the Erika trial.
Total oil group was recently ordered by a French tribunal to pay €375,000 as well as a share of €192 million in damages following the 1999 sinking of the Erika, which had a Maltese flag.
ADF said following the verdict that Malta's absence was very noticable.
"What is the point of creating obligations that a state must bear for its flag if they cannot be held responsible when they fail to exercise the necessary controls? Why didn't France take action in accordance with its beliefs and hold Malta responsible before an international jurisdiction? Was it is the name of reciprocity? When it comes to port controls, the French administration is exemplary..." it said on its website.
The ADF were also pleased by the tribunal's condemnation of Erika owner Giuseppe Savarese, technical manager Antonio Pollara and classification society Rina.
"The owner, his technical manager and the classification society could not be ignorant of the ship's grave structural problem and that it was not up to standard," it said.
Total oil group was recently ordered by a French tribunal to pay €375,000 as well as a share of €192 million in damages following the 1999 sinking of the Erika, which had a Maltese flag.
ADF said following the verdict that Malta's absence was very noticable.
"What is the point of creating obligations that a state must bear for its flag if they cannot be held responsible when they fail to exercise the necessary controls? Why didn't France take action in accordance with its beliefs and hold Malta responsible before an international jurisdiction? Was it is the name of reciprocity? When it comes to port controls, the French administration is exemplary..." it said on its website.
The ADF were also pleased by the tribunal's condemnation of Erika owner Giuseppe Savarese, technical manager Antonio Pollara and classification society Rina.
"The owner, his technical manager and the classification society could not be ignorant of the ship's grave structural problem and that it was not up to standard," it said.