Pressure for report on Prestige
Greece has asked the European Commission to step up pressure on Spanish authorities to release an official report into the sinking of the Prestige tanker off Spain’s Atlantic coast two months ago, the Merchant Marine Ministry said yesterday. Merchant Marine Minister Giorgos Anomeritis has insisted that the causes of the shipwreck must be established before the Greek EU presidency takes action to accelerate the decommissioning of single-hulled tankers in favor of double-hulled vessels, to avoid future environmental disasters such as the Prestige oil spill. A ministry statement said Anomeritis raised the matter with Transport and Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio on Friday. «He asked the commissioner to intervene with the Spanish authorities so that they submit the report on the causes of the Prestige shipwreck as soon as possible,» the statement said, adding that «intense» pressure should be exerted on Madrid to deliver. Anomeritis said the Greek presidency will «by no means exclusively occupy itself» with the faster decommissioning of single-hull tankers.
