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SINGLE-HULLED oil tankers will be banned from European waters if the European
Commissioner for Transport, Loyola de Palacio, gets her way. The move follows
the wreck of the tanker Erika, which dumped 10 000 tonnes of fuel oil off the
French coast in December.

France had threatened to go it alone and ban single-hulled tankers such as
the Erika. But now the European Commission is proposing to phase in a ban over
10 years, starting in 2005. Under the proposal, by 2015 all tankers in European
waters will have double hulls to help prevent them being holed and losing oil in
low-speed collisions.

The timing of the ban closely parallels a similar restriction adopted by the
US in 1990 after the wreck of the tanker Exxon Valdez in Alaska. 鈥淲e welcome the
European move,鈥� says a spokesman for the US Coastguard.

But the International Maritime Organization doesn鈥檛 agree. The London-based
UN agency last month called on the EU not to adopt stricter standards than its
own. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 even know if a double hull would have prevented the accident,鈥�
says IMO spokesman Roger Kohn. He says that a double hull would not have
prevented the oil spill from the Exxon Valdez.

鈥淚f everyone imposes their own regulations it will bring confusion to the
world shipping industry,鈥� says Kohn. He believes local restrictions will just
send the problem elsewhere. 鈥淓ven if Europe bans certain ships, they still sail
past European coasts,鈥� he says.

Before the ban on single-hulled tankers takes effect, the European Commission
is also asking the shipping industry to stop using tankers that are more than 15
years old. But Kohn cautions that this measure will drive up the price of oil.