EMEA News
Tema Port Director Warns of Punishment for All Polluting Vessels Following Bunker Spill
Jacob Kobla Adorkor, director of Tema Port for the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authourity (GPHA), has issued a warning that punitive action will be taken against any vessel responsible for polluting the waters, local media reports.
As Ship & Bunker reported earlier this week, the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has been fined $50,000 by the GPHA for an HFO spill at the Tema Port, which was linked to its container ship MSC Alexa.
Adorkor says that the punitive measures taken against the company align with international regulations.
The Habour Master of Tema Port, Captain James Richmond Quayson, noting that the vessel operators did not alert the appropriate authorities to the spill, said: "the ship didn't do the due diligence and they are going to pay for it."
How much weight his words carry will likely be questioned by the Ship & Bunker readers who, responding to our earlier story, said they felt the fine was much too low and, in the words of one reader who tweeted us, MSC would "have had to add a couple of 0s more to the amount of fine if same happened in US/Canadian waters."
George Asare, Estate and Environment Manager of Tema Port, said that although the incident was unfortunate, the spill would be dealt with properly, avoiding harm to marine species.
Adorkor has said that while the port is capable of dealing with oil spillage, such pollution can be costly if not managed properly.
