What you need to know about the sinking of the “Grande America” – Liberation

An Italian ship containing 2,200 tonnes of heavy fuel oil sank on Tuesday 300 km off La Rochelle. Oil slicks could reach the Atlantic coast as early as Sunday.–

A slick of oil is heading towards the French coast after the sinking of the Italian ship Grande America, which sank off La Rochelle. The ship contained hazardous materials and 2,200 tonnes of heavy fuel oil in its holds. Hybrid ship between a ro-ro and a container ship with a length of 214 meters, the Great America came from Hamburg in Germany to go to Casablanca in Morocco. A cargo fire broke out on board on Sunday evening and it sank to a depth of 4,600 meters on Tuesday afternoon.

If the members of the crew were all able to be evacuated, the environmental question now arises while the NGO Robin des Bois will file a complaint with the High Court of Brest for pollution and abandonment of waste.

2,200 tonnes of heavy fuel oil

«We cannot deny that there is a risk for the environment but we must take a step back. As most of the fuels were confined in the bunkers, the fuel oil did not necessarily escape yet. The very cold temperatures freeze it at 4,600 meters. What came to the surface could be diesel, wonders Christophe Reux, secretary general of the French federation of maritime pilots. The 2,200 tons of fuel oil will not rise all at once, they will pour out little by little.” Analyzes are underway to determine the origin of the products. “In any case, it’s not rose water”, slice Jacky Bonnemains spokesperson for the NGO Robin des Bois, specialized in post-disaster waste.

For this officer of the merchant navy, a real fundamental problem remains: the resurgence of fires on board ships, at the origin of the sinking of the Grande America. “There is probably a problem with the declaration of goods that present risks of combustion or a cohabitation of products that are not made to be together.»

Contacted by Release, lawyer Corinne Lepage, who defended the victims of the oil slicks from the Amoco Cadiz shipwrecks in 1978 and the Erika in 1999, details: “The risks are very serious. It will be difficult to avoid the arrival of oil on the coasts. It is certainly not a very significant pollution, 2,200 tons of heavy fuel oil whereas the Erika was an oil tanker and transported more than 30,000 tons. But it remains heavy fuel oil, from the bottom of the tank, which arrives in the form of pellets on the beaches. And the containers, in which we still don’t know what was there, also pose a risk of chemical pollution, which no one talks about.She acknowledges that significant efforts have been made in terms of maritime safety since the Erika, but that “the progress relates above all to the transport of hydrocarbons: there with a cargo ship, it is not the same legislation”

A 10 km long oil slick

«During the flight performed [ce jeudi] above the sinking area of ​​the Grande America by the French Navy’s Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft, an oil slick was located“, said Wednesday evening the maritime prefecture in a press release. The slick stretched about ten kilometers long and one kilometer wide, “more than 200 km from the coast».

The oil slicks linked to the sinking of the Italian boat “could touch the French coast around Sunday evening or Monday», Estimates François de Rugy, the Minister of Ecological Transition.

Dumplings and oil pancakes on the beaches

«Dumplings and oil pancakes will land on the beaches of the Atlantic in the coming weeks, especially during the Easter holidays. All possible precautions should be taken to block the entrance to ports and shellfish farms. Fishermen, oyster farmers and all sea professionals will be the most penalized”, regrets the defender of the environment Jacky Bonnemains.

The Robin des Bois association intends to lodge a complaint for pollution and the abandonment of waste with the tribunal de grande instance of Brest. “There is a car junkyard at the bottom of the ocean with 2,000 polluting cars that the boat was carrying and the toxic materials that go with it, assures Jacky Bonnemains, the spokesperson for the NGO. These are cars deemed non-standard in France that are sent to Africa. This accident is the mirror of north-south trade. And there are three to four ships like that a week.»

Risks to marine fauna and flora

«The sinking took place in an area where the fauna and flora are very rich. The first direct victims will be plankton, fish and marine mammals, emphasizes Jacky Bonnemains. Beyond fuel oil, a rise in plastics and various waste from the ship is to be expected. They are not hazardous materials in themselves, but in large quantities they can be hazardous to fish, marine mammals and birds“, he assures.

Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of the League for the Protection of Birds agrees. Although the quantities of fuel oil are much lower than during the sinking of the Erika, heavy fuel oil remains very problematic for the birds and very difficult for the volunteers to clean up (at the time, the volunteers had only been able to save 20% of the affected birds that they had recovered). Even if the oil could be pumped out before reaching the beaches, “offshore pelagic birds (who live on the high seas) swill be affected: for example the Alcidae family and among them the Guillemot de Troïl, the razorbills and the puffins, which are at the end of the wintering period and have not returned to nest, as well as little gulls“. If the fuel reached the coast, other birds would be affected: “black scoters, terns, small wading birds, or even brant geese – migratory birds which have not yet returned to Siberia”. He regrets that despite the promises made after the sinking of the Erika, few care centers are established on the coast to be able to come to the aid of the affected birds: “IThere is one in Nantes and another in the Arcachon basin, but nothing in between, where the birds are likely to arrive. There is only our mobile care unit but it is insufficient.»

“Laxity around maritime transport”

The sinking of Great America gave rise to a political battle. Yannick Jadot, head of the EE-LV list for the Europeans, criticized Thursday “the laxity that often exists around maritime transport. The international maritime organization is monopolized by all the flags of convenience which constantly try to fight against all the social, safety and environmental rules.» «I don’t know what laxity Yannick Jadot is talking about. We have an action that is extremely determined for maritime security“, replied the Minister of Ecological and Solidarity Transition François de Rugy. In particular, he cited the creation of maritime routes “strictly monitoredand a European Maritime Safety Agency.

In Europe “from the moment we come […] in a major European port, there are controls“, he still defended. Europe is also in the process ofto impose on international maritime transport, in any case on all ships that will come to European ports, to change engines so that they no longer use this heavy fuel oilbut liquefied natural gas, recalled the minister.

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