French Court Finds Oil Company Partly Liable for Spill

Andrew Calhoun / 1-17-08 / 11:22AM / Current Event #1 / Pollution

This article is based on an vast tanker spill that occurred in 1999. The spill blackened the Brittany coast with fuel oil and was spread by a storm two weeks later, which resulted in 250 miles of the French coast being effected. One reason why this instance can be considered an international pollution issue is the fact that the oil spill occurred within an area that was subject to maritime and international shipping laws. Also, the make-up of the crew, the owners of the ship as well as the owners of the cargo on "The Erika" all originated from different countries. The owners of the cargo, "Total", were a French based oil company, however the owners of the ship were Italian while the crew manning the ship were Indian. Along with those difference, the ship was discovered to be chartered by a shipping company based in the Bahamas. With all of these variables in place, coming to a ruling on who was to blame for the incident would set a precedent on futures cases. Once the case was completed, the French courts decided to fine Total almost $298 million in damages to be paid to the French government, environmental groups, and local communities that were effected by the spill. The decision was surprisingly different based on previous cases and maritime laws that commonly place the blame for spills and wrecks on the insurance companies and the owners of the boat rather then the owners of the cargo. I think a ruling such as this one makes all parties involved in international shipping think about environmental safety a lot more then they previously. It's unfortunate that an event like this had to happen to make people more responsible.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/world/europe/17tanker_web.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin