Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-10-21-Speech-4-042"
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"en.20101021.4.4-042"2
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".
Mr President, Mrs Geoghegan-Quinn, the arrival of a container full of trainers on an island somewhere, which was received enthusiastically by the residents, has in the past made headline news. In another case, a contingent of rubber ducks floated ashore. These are, of course, the pleasant examples of ships’ cargoes going missing, but the fact is that in many cases lost containers can cause serious damage. It has become clear that we must do something about this.
The Dutch Government was concerned about this problem and set up an investigation to find out why it was happening. The investigation identified a number of causes. Although there are EU regulations which specify how cargoes should be secured and although all ships have the manual containing the regulations on board, only 46% of ships have their cargoes properly lashed down. This means that we do not need any new rules. You were right about that, Mrs Geoghegan-Quinn. In many cases, the weight of the cargo has not been correctly balanced. Another reason is that many crews in the short sea shipping sector unlash cargoes before they have reached their destination to speed up the unloading process. Stacking errors can also be a cause of the problem, together with old or damaged equipment. All of this can, of course, have a major impact on the environment. Around 70% of items lost from ships at sea sink to the bottom, but this gives rise to the question of what damage they are causing on the sea bed. A total of 15% of the goods reach land. The remaining 15% float around in the ocean and obviously represent a major hazard for other ships, platforms and the environment.
This means that when accidents happen at sea we must investigate the extent to which containers were involved. Then we need to speak to shipping companies and port operators to ensure that they comply with the regulations. In addition, regular inspections must be made. Two thousand containers really are too many and I think that carrying out feasibility studies would take too long. We must take immediate action, because the situation simply cannot go on as it is."@en1
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