03-03-2010 par Rebecca SiguierContamination of the Mediterranean Sea: The political surge

The collision of two ships on 19 February in the Mediterranean Sea incurs the wrath of the politicians.

After a “scandalized” Jean-Louis Borloo who regrets that the “alarm was not given early enough to prevent this scourge”, today, it was Michel Vauzelle’s turn to express his feelings. Regarding this pollution, le President of the Socialist Party for the PACA region denounced “incomplete information” from the government. However, it is surprising that the news of the collision had been communicated on 23 February, four days after the accident.

A collision between an Italian tugboat, the “Francia”, and a container ship belonging to the French company CMA-CGM, the “CC Strauss”, outside Genoa’s port (Italy), caused a fuel leakage in the sea estimated at around 184 tons. Only a third of the pollution on the French coasts has been removed.

 

“Now, what is important is to be as reactive as possible to limit the damages and protect our coastline as well as the marine environment. We are evidently attentive to the current operations. We also have to reinforce our cross-border cooperation procedures in order to act faster and more efficiently as from the first alert”, added the minister of ecology several days after the accident.

 

For several years, Surfrider who has been fighting against marine pollution and hopes that these media focuses will have a substantial impact on the actions undertaken by the State to avoid any future fuel leakages and can only be satisfied with such awareness!