News • January 25 2004

Another Malta-flagged ship suspected of polluting French coast

David Lindsay
Maltese flagged ships have become something of a bête noire for the French maritime authorities these days.
A French magistrate is seeking an international arrest warrant for Malta Maritime Authority Chairman Marc Bonello and Merchant Shipping Director Lino Vassallo in connection with their failure to appear before an inquiry into the 1999 Erika oil spill.
But to complicate matters further this week a Maltese-flagged cargo ship has been re-directed to the French port of Brest after it was spotted discharging its ballast tanks off the western coast of France.
On Wednesday a French marine aeroplane spotted an 18-kilometre wave of pollution in the wake of the Nova Hollandia cargo ship, which was en route from the Netherlands and bound for Algeria.
The ship's captain, who has already been questioned, will be questioned again when the ship arrives at the French port.
In a statement released Friday evening, the MMA’s Merchant Shipping Directorate said that preliminary investigations indicate a leakage had developed in the ballast line which may have resulted in ballast water contaminated with bunker oil, being accidentally discharged into the sea during normal ballast water operations.
It added that a Merchant Shipping Directorate Flag State Control inspector is currently on site to continue investigating further into the incident.
French authorities do not take kindly to polluting practice and last year fined the captain of a Bulgarian cargo ship EUR200,000 for ballast dumping near the French Atlantic coast.

david@newsworksltd.com