Asia/Pacific News
Call for Tougher New Zealand Bunker Spill Laws
Green Party environment spokesperson Eugenie Sage says that the scale and frequency of bunker spills in New Zealand waters demonstrates that more needs to be done to protect the country from such accidents.
The Green Party is calling for the introduction of compulsory shipping lanes to reduce the chances of collision, the end of deep sea drilling, and the improvement of spill response systems.
Sage was responding to new figures from Maritime New Zealand showing that 363 spills have been reported since the MV Rena ran aground in 2011, and that nine incidents involving spills in excess of 1,000 litres occurred in 2012.
In total, 39,000 litres of oil was said to have have spilled into harbours since the MV Rena container ship ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef in October of 2011, causing 350,000 litres of heavy fuel oil to leak from the Greek-owned vessel.
Sage said, "It looks as if some regional councils respond more effectively than others when oil spills are reported, so the Ministry for the Environment needs to do its job and make sure all councils are up to scratch."
Nigel Clifford, safety and response general manager for Maritime New Zealand, told local media that the data cited by Sage reflects the number of ships passing through harbours and not an increase in accidents.
He said, "Maritime NZ's view is that it is not desirable to have any oil in the marine environment, but NZ is an island nation and that means there is extensive maritime activity."
Meanwhile, Greenepace is expressing concern over 66 spill-related incidents reported at Taranaki's offshore oil facilities between October 2011 and August this year.
OMV was cited as reporting five incidents to Maritime New Zealand during that time period, but Peter Zeilinger, managing director for OMV in New Zealand, said the spills had minimal environmental impact and the company had worked to improve processes.
Earlier this year, when Mobile defended itself against accusations of withholding information following a bunker spill in the Port of Tauranga, the company stated that "in some senses, the volume itself is irrelevant, it's whether the response is appropriate."
