Unprecedented pollution in China's seas
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) China's Maritime Safety Administration has revealed that increased shipping, spurred by the country's expanding economy, and the lack of adequate environmental laws are creating unprecedented levels of pollution in the country's seas.
Statistics from the Ministry of Communications indicate that cargo transported by sea reached around 1.8 billion tons last year.
At least 90 per cent of the nation's imported crude oil was transported by sea, with the figure last year reaching up to 110 million tons.
Coupled with the surge in marine transport and the legislative vacuum is a growth in the number of oil spills. Between 1973 and 2003, more than 2,350 oil spills occurred along the nation's coast. This is one spill every 4.6 days.
Some of the spills have been so bad that they threaten the country's environment.
On April 4 of this year, the Portuguese oil tanker Arteaga, carrying about 120,000 tons of crude oil from the Yemen, struck a rock and became stranded off Dalian Port in north-east China's Liaoning Province.
On July 2, a Chinese oil tanker collided with a Malaysian-registered 9,000-ton ship at Dalian Port while carrying 3,800 tons of diesel fuel to Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong Province, causing an oil spill. For days, tens of boats and helicopters have had to work ceaselessly to minimise the impact on the environment.
Last December, two container ships from Panama and Yemen collided off the estuary of the Pearl River, just south of Hong Kong, leading to the leakage of 1,200 tons of oil into the sea. The cost of emergency response to the accident ran to 120 million yuan (US$ 14.5 million).
Although China is party to the International Fund Convention on oil pollution, which provides financial compensation in case of damages caused by this type of accident, it is only applicable to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Thus, oil pollution damage cannot be covered by the Fund elsewhere in China.
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22/01/2018 08:37
