Slick approaches French coast

Port-Joinville - Residents along France's west coast were braced for a black Christmas as shifting winds kept them guessing yesterday as to where a giant oil slick drifting in the Atlantic would reach land. In Paris, the French Transport Minister, Mr Jean-Claude Gayssot, demanded a speedy review of international shipping standards after the tanker Erika, carrying 25,000 tonnes of fuel oil, broke up in stormy seas on December 12th. The drifting oil looked set to wash up in Croisic, near Nantes.