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Crippled tanker raises worries

Taiwan yesterday ordered the British owner of a Liberian-registered oil tanker, currently floating without power in the Taiwan Strait, to tow it out of Taiwan's waters to prevent pollution from its cargo of 249,000 tonnes of crude oil.

The oil tanker, the Front Tobago, was originally headed for Wakayama, Japan, where it was to discharge the oil. But on May 2, it lost power near Japan and its British owner, whom the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has not named, hired a Singapore-based vessel, the Smit Wijs, to tow it to Japan.

According to the EPA, the tanker, while powerless, is said to be floating under "controlled circumstances" and is being monitored, along with the vessel, around the clock by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA).

On Sunday, Japan denied the tanker permission to enter its waters and the tanker, towed by the vessel, headed for Taiwan's waters and requested permission to enter either Hualien or Kaohsiung harbors.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), however, denied the request due to the risk of oil spillage.

On Tuesday, it was towed to an area of shallow water known as the Taiwan Bank (台灣灘) in the Taiwan Strait and decided to drop anchor in order to transfer its cargo to another tanker, an operation that carries the risk of oil spillage. The Taiwan Bank is 260km from Kaohsiung and 148km from the coast of China.

A task force involving several Cabinet agencies was established on Tuesday to monitor the tanker. At a meeting held that day, the task force, led by the EPA, decided to deny the tanker permission to anchor.

Yesterday, the task force officially ordered the ship's owner to tow it out of Taiwan's waters "as soon as possible."

Officials said that transferring crude oil from one vessel to another in Taiwan waters without Taipei's permission would violate the Ocean Pollution Control Act (海污法) and the ROC Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf Law (中華民國專屬經濟海域及大陸礁層法).

"If they do anchor and remove crude oil in violation of our warnings, they will face at least 10 years in prison and a fine of over NT$100 million," said EPA head, Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌).

Hau said that it was too dangerous to discharge 249,000 tonnes of crude oil in the Taiwan Strait, as the waters around the Penghu archipelago might be polluted.

Hau said that the Ministry of National Defense would, if necessary, escort the oil tanker out of Taiwan's waters. Meanwhile, Hau said, the Mainland Affairs Council was notifying China about the situation.

"We've taken full control of the situation to prevent polluting the ocean," said Hau, adding that the tanker was potentially the source of a disastrous oil spill.

MOTC officials said yesterday that the ship's crew of nine Russians and 14 Filipinos remained safe on board.
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