Germany wants new European Union maritime safety measures to be quickly adopted following the sinking of an oil tanker off the northwest coast of Spain, a government spokesman said today.
The subject will be the focus of talks in the eastern French city of Nancy on Friday between German Transport Minister Mr Manfred Stolpe and his French counterpart Mr Gilles de Robien, the spokesman said.
The 26-year-old single hulled tanker, the Prestige, split in two and sank off the Spanish coast Tuesday spilling thousands of tonnes of oil into the sea endangering wildlife and one of Europe's most picturesque coastlines.
The European Commission wants to phase single hulled vessels out of operation. They are still legal under current law until 2015.
"We have to think very quickly about whether this procedure should be accelerated," a German transport ministry spokesman said. The reliability of companies charged with ensuring shipping safety and port safety checks will also be addressed at the meeting in Nancy.
Earlier Wednesday, EU Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio urged member states to speed up implementation of the rules agreed in 2000 after the last major such disaster, involving the Erika tanker off the French coast in 1999.
AFP