China is likely to ask all ships plying its seawaters to buy insurance and set up a fund to contribute to the huge amount needed to clean-up oil leaks.

 

The two measures are part of the to-be-revised draft of rules to prevent ships from polluting the ocean environment, Yang Xinzhai, director of the ship safety and pollution prevention department with China Maritime Safety Administration, said yesterday.

 

If the State Council approves the draft nearly 20,000 ships will have to abide by the new rules. China's three big petroleum companies, too, would contribute to the fund. The official, however, refused to say how large the fund might be.

 

The quality of water in China's coastal areas has been deteriorating. Official data indicates that by 2006 China had 120,000 square kilometers of oil-polluted seawaters. The Bohai Sea is the most seriously affected with a third of the polluted area being in its range.

 

"The major sources of pollution are inland rivers and factories in the coastal areas but ships also account for part of the pollution," the official said.

 

Existing laws stipulate a company has to pay the clean-up cost of oil leaks from one of its vessels.

On average an oil leak requires 100 million yuan (US$12.9 million) to clean up and to compensate the fishing and tourism industries.

 

As no shipping company could afford such huge amounts an international convention asks member economies to pay the sum and to set up a fund to cover the costs.

 

The administration also wants to apply international regulations to China. But since the measures involve the interests of petroleum and shipping companies the suggestion hasn’t been put to the test after it was made at an international maritime safety forum in 2005.

 

"We’ll continue our efforts this year to set up the compensation mechanism to prevent and fight oil pollution caused by ships," Liu Gongcheng, deputy director of China Maritime Safety Administration under the Ministry of Communications, told a working conference yesterday.

 

The administration has also decided to strengthen anti-pollution infrastructure, he said. Major oil ports must have facilities to deal with oil leaks. The administration will organize a drill near Qinhuangdao in Hebei Province in the first half of this year on how to deal with spillages.

 

More than 80 oil leaks were reported in Chinese waters between 2000 and 2004. The latest was on December 31, 2006, in Guangdong Province. Though the 5,000-ton vessel involved had delivered the oil it was carrying it was on fire for 8 hours. Two crew members died and five others were injured. But the Guangdong maritime safety bureau acted swiftly to prevent the remaining oil onboard from leaking, Nanfang Daily reported.

 

All Chinese vessels plying international waters are covered by insurance in accordance with international conventions. But China has not yet joined the convention for a fund to combat oil pollution.

 

(China Daily January 19, 2007)