MEPs ensure safer freighters and ferries

3.46.00pm GMT Fri 13th Mar 2009

Euro-MPs, for whom maritime safety is a long-standing priority after the 1999 Erica and 2002 Prestige oil spills, have backed a new package of EU measures. This provides for a blacklist of substandard ships and better accident and lost luggage compensation for passengers, covering not only huge tankers but also smaller craft like Greek island ferries.

The new package known as 'Erika III' will also improve both ship safety and the action taken if an accident occurs. It includes harmonised rules on ship owner insurance and liability so passengers are protected, and stricter conditions on ship inspections and accident investigations. To stop the present situation where time is often lost deciding where a stricken ship should go, each EU government will have to nominate an authority with the power to decide.

Liberal Democrat MEP for London Sarah Ludford said:

"This is a set of very practical and essential measures to make ships and boats safer, including for holidaymakers. It will not only protect against horrific oil spills which do terrible environmental damage, but also give compensation for lost suitcases."

"MEPs are once again standing up for residents and consumers, protecting them from dodgy vessels liable to accidents and also putting in the safeguards should the worst happen. Liberal Democrats ensured that compensation extends to smaller vessels that are the most widely used passenger ships in the EU."

"The European Parliament was right to insist, against the reluctance of EU national governments, that blacklisting should mean a permanent ban, not a temporary one. There is no justification for bending the rules on such a vital safety issue."