Hi, all--
What's the latest on this horrible oil tanker disaster? I caught a bit of news on NPR and it sounds like there is already oil on the beaches...true?
FIVE MINUTES LATER...
I'll answer my own question...I just checked out the news online, and it looks like there are already cleanup crews on the beaches near Finisterra, shoveling (!) oil. How is it we didn't hear anything about this in the USA until today--when the leaks started 6 days ago!!!?

The news appeared on CNN a few days ago, I also saw it on CBS Evening News with Dan Rather.

The thing that kills me is that this has happened before not far from the present site (A couple years ago??). Someone should be handcuffed and flogged and then put in the "Plaza de Toros Monumental" to face a Spanish bull wearing nothing but tears and underwear every time this occurs "....until dead, dead, dead."

To sum up what happened:

Some days ago a fuel cargo ship having 77,000 tons of fuel aboard started to break in two parts. Authorities tried to send it far from the galaecian coast, until it was at 100 miles aprox.

It's fuel tanks started to broke one by one. Now almost 10,000 tons are either over the sea's surface or have reached the environmental rich coast of Galaecia. The ship is sinking, and it may release the rest of the cargo anytime.

This disaster is going to leave 100 miles of coast with a great environmental damage. Shellfish and fish is going to die, and thousands of fishermen are going to loose their jobs.

It seems that the ship was very old (almost 30 years) and should have passed some controls which would have remove it from the seas. To avoid european controls it had a Bahamas flag, and used the Gibraltar seaport, because Gibraltar has much softer controls.

European Union and Spain are blaiming Gibraltar for it, while UK is denying that the final destiny was Gibraltar, and that the ship didn't pass through Gibraltar (apparently there are documents which state that the ship was actually going to Gibraltar and that it has passed controls in Gibraltar before).

What it is true is that this is going to be one of the worst environmental dissasters in all our history.

Fernando

Several of my friends contacted me this morning (they all know how much I love Spain) to update me on the details of the disaster.

This truly hit home for me as I just visited Galicia in April and drove up the coast from Santiago to Finesterra. I even remarked that it was the most spectacular stretch of scenery that I've even seen in Europe and in the U.S. (and I live at the beach in SCAL).

It disturbs me to think how long it will take for this to be cleaned up and the long term environmental impact.

I think about the Mejilloneras in the Ria de Pontevedra, Islas Cies, Baiona y las Playas en la ria de Vigo and the great mercado de Pescado at the foot of la Pedra across from the port of Vigo and I weep.

The Economies of Spain and Portugal will be hit very hard; but it's also going to be felt all across Europe. I met a Soanish fishing boat crew in Connemara (Ireland) last May. They're going to suffer, too.

Tanker Prestige sank 130 mi west of Finisterre yesterday (19 Nov). Two of its fully laden oil tanks went to the bottom. Authorities hope that the pressure at a depth of about 3km will keep them sealed

The ramifications of this tanker sinking will be felt for a decade or more. My heart goes out to all those whose lives depend on fishing, and tourism, in the area. It's a disaster that could have been avoided, if international ship requirements were changed, insuring that all oil tankers be required to be double-hull type, to prevent this from happening. The blame rests on everyone's shoulders, because most of us take the regulatory standards for shipping, for granted.

Yes, that would mean scrapping a large percentage of the existing tanker fleet, and a higher cost for services, but in the end, would it ever cost more than something like this? Just the fact that that tanker will be falling apart, and destroying one of the most beautiful places in the world, should be enough, to make us all react.

What is most humbling is seeing the birds that are succumbing to man's errors. We may feel pity for them, but in the end, it's ourselves we should pity, because we've failed to protect the most precious treasures we have on earth.

In the end, people will forget about it, because it wasn't their nation, or their shores that were destroyed. That's what makes this tragedy even worse.

Wolf

[originally posted by Shawn on 11-20-2002 @ 12:39 AM]
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I am deeply sadden to see the formerly pristine Galacian coastline converted into a sea of crude oil. It is deeply disturbing to read and view reports of this disaster. It appears that it has already destroyed great amounts of wildlife and marine life, we can only hope that the thousands of fishermen who depend upon the abundant seafood will be able to survive this.

Well, the fishing has been forbidden all the area, so apart form the environmental consequences, there are also economical consequences. I remember that when the Ericka sinked, the French government sewed TotalFina because it was the company who was receiving the fuel, and they were forced to pay part of the cleaning. I wonder why the Spanish governement doesn´t do the same thing. I guess the fuel was meant to be sent to some company/companies. They should find out who had made the order of the fuel and then make them responsible of that. TotalFina is still being charged for the sinking of the ERicka.

Here's the link, in English, to the USATODAY.com article about the spill:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-11-20-tanker-usat_x.htm

Here's the first couple paragraphs:

Oil spill contaminates life on Spanish coast

By Ellen Hale, USA TODAY

CAION, Spain — Spongy, basketball-sized globs of oil coagulate on the white sand beaches of this small fishing village where more than 50 families make their living from the sea.

"I would be out for pulpo (squid) this time of year," says Evaristo Lois, 47, who has worked the fish-rich waters off the coast of Galicia province since he was 15. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all pescadores.
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Sadly, MadridMan

MM- 'pulpo' is octopus, not squid (calamar). The reporter needs to double check his info!

Carmen- I'm sure the Spanish government will go after everyone involved... but its still early, and its going to take time. I think they're right in proceeding with precaution.

Wolf, I'm so with you there! I totally agree!

Thank you Gibraltar!

I started to mention this in the Gibraltar debate a few days ago.
As Fernando reported, the Prestige passed inspection there- one more reason some type of agreement must be reached about Gibraltar's future. This and many other ships pass inspection there, full knowing they can't pass anywhere in the EU. So who knows what other floating bombs are out there? There are already over a thousand families whose livlihoods depend on the sea that are ruined
The problem isn't only with the coast or the ocean either, let's not forget Galicias many, many 'rias' what will become of them!! :o

It's sad, horrible and cruel, especially when accidents like this can be completely avoided. The worst is that I'm sorry to say this isn't even the worst yet! They're afraid that the pressure will open the tanks holding the 77,000(tons I think?!) of oil left in the boat! But even if they don't explode open.. those tanks aren't made to sit in water... eventually it will come out!

First mad cow scare, and now this?! How long will it be before we feel comfortable eating seafood again!? Navidades sin gambas y cangrejo?!

If they are taking volunteers like they did in Alaska, I'll go! So if any of you hear anything... POST IT!

It pisses me off that Green Peace is getting mad at the Spanish Gov. about the oil disaster have we forgotten that the was owned and operated by a Greek company and had papers on it proving that it was heading to Gib. And was previoulsy there it seems any excuse is a good excuse to get mad at the Spanish gov. agreed?

Q- where do you get this stuff?!?!

Keep in mind, that when debating and discussing these things, yes you can get passionate about it, but keep a calm, clear head!-otherwise you just seem like your babbling and you'll never get your point across.

Greenpeace, yes, a worthy organization... can be a bit fanatical at times. I haven't read anything about Greenpeace criticizing the Spanish government, although it wouldn't surprise me. However, I don't think that they would blame or argue with the Spanish government that this accident was their fault, but they would that they handled it poorly.

Environmentalists love to use shock as an eye opener and take advantage of situations such as these to drive the point home. Since people and governments tend to put aside environmental issues aside between disasters, the environmentalists use these tragedies for everything they can get out of it! (Like the red cross and United Way with the World Trade Center... people were falling all over themselves to donate money, something these organizations need badly, ALL THE TIME to keep doing the work they do, not just when something horrible happens- which is usually when people are more giving and sensitive to these needs.) Good or bad, this is the way it works.

Could have the Spanish government handled it differently? Of course. There were several different options that were considered before taking the action they did. Environmentalists also advised on what would be different soultions and which would be the best ones... but there are many factors that needed to be taken into consideration. One of those things is the weather. In ideal circumstances, there would have been different logical options to take, but considering how the seas were behaving, well, they did the best they could under the circumstances. Again, could they have done better, possibly, but that's irrelevant, just as it is placing blame right now. The more important thing, while blame is being investigated, is damage control- clean it up the best way possible, deal with the sunken bomb at the bottom of the ocean, and try the best possible to prevent further damage.

Environmental groups and radical environmentalists are going to attack whichever target is easiest. From what you say that's Spain. But the international maritime laws are not set by Spain, but many countries, and that's an issue these countries will be visiting very soon.

Changes in these laws were being made, but obvioulsy did not go in to effect soon enough, so again, the EU now is looking to speed things up. Avoid another disaster like this one.

Espe3 wrote: I know that and you know that but apparently the writer of the article didn't know that.

I've been thinking a lot about this problem and worrying it will change Spain, as we know it, for the next serveral years. Worse yet, as if Spain's economy didn't already have enough problems, NOW they have this problem too?? SO many thousands of people depend on fishing and growing shellfish that ... well... what's going to happen to Galicia??!?! How will GALICIA seem like GALICIA if you/they can't even get seafood there?

If Galicia isn't part of the seafood market economy, I assume Spain will rely more heavily on other coasts to collect their catch and maybe the prices will go up?!

Pulpo a la Gallega won't be found?? Will they just get the pulpo ("octopus", by the way) from other regions??

My god. Spain, to me (I should add this to that other thread), IS seafood.

Since the disaster, I've been putting up and changing daily my PC's wallpaper at work to show the different photos I took last Semana Santa during my week there. We visited the coastal cities of Fisterra, Corcubión, Baiona Bay, Sanxenxo, & O Cebreiro among other amazing places. We also spent several nights in Santiago de Compostela.

If you'd like to see coastal Galicia (and inland too) as I saw it last year, you can view (and feel free to take all you like for your own wallpaper) them @ http://members4.clubphoto.com/madridman300945/ .

Nearly all the aforementioned coastal and inland cities can be seen on live webcams @ http://www.crtvg.es/ingles/camweb/primenucamarasflash.htm

Sadly, MadridMan

What a horrible disaster! And yes MMan, I guess no pulpo, no percebes, etc for a while. But the worst part is the reprercussions in the lives of many families AND all those poor fish and birds!

But I wanted to at least bring forward a positive note; it's amazing the amount of volunteers from all over the country that have traveled to Galicia to help out with the cleaning of the oil from the beaches, there're groups of young people from Cadiz there "as we speak" for God's sakes! They deserve all my admiration

One can watch a 60-second video from Telemadrid HERE (In Spanish - if you already have installed the Windows Media Player) about how the prices of seafood have gone up 20-30% in Madrid.
Another article & video HERE :


pim, if ANYONE lives in Spain - or better yet IN Galicia and unemployed & looking for work - I can't see any reason why they wouldn't WANT to volunteer with the cleanup & containment efforts. My god. If I lived there and unemployed I'd be there immediately. I spoke with my ladyfriend in Madrid today and she said prices have gone up a lot for seafood. Thing is with this, even AFTER things are more-or-less back to normal, those prices will NEVER come back down after we get used to the higher prices.

I need to go to my local latino store soon and clean out their existing supply (cans) of mejillones (mussels) and pulpo (octopus) before it's too late.

Sadly, MadridMan

MM,
Many thanks for your reporting of the circumstances in Galicia. I hope the people of Galicia will be dully reimbursed for their present and future losses. Do you know if the northern coast of Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria could have potential damage to their beaches as well?
Saludos

[originally posted by Quintos233 on 11-27-2002 @ 06:09 PM]
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I went to the el mundo website and I believe it said that the Prestige is contnuing to spill oil under neath the ocean if this is true and I didn't missunderastand it where in for a disaster which "some body or some entitiy needs to be held responsible for". PS this really [bites] for the Galicains and for the rest of Spain for that matter. I hope this incident does not turn into something the Galicains will blame Madrid for.

11/29/2002 - Updated 12:33 PM ET

More oil approaching Spain

MADRID, Spain (APOnline) — A local government official warned coastal residents to brace for the worst this weekend as another massive oil slick from a sunken tanker drifted toward shore Friday.

The official also said the tanker Prestige, which was carrying about 20 million gallons when it sank, probably is still leaking petroleum from the bottom of the ocean.

Reconnaissance planes have spotted new slicks near the area in the Atlantic Ocean where the Prestige split in two and sank Nov. 19 after a six-day struggle at sea, Galicia's fisheries minister Enrique Lopez Veiga said in the regional capital Santiago de Compostela.

French and Portuguese planes also have detected signs of fresh oil at the site of the sinking, 150 miles offshore.

"It is probably still spilling fuel oil," the national news agency Efe quoted the official as saying.

The central government said anything bubbling up from the Prestige was likely the ship's own fuel or a lubricant, but it did not rule out that its cargo of fuel oil could be leaking.

Meanwhile, strong winds and currents off Spain's northwest coast were pushing a sprawling, amorphous petroleum mass toward Cape Finisterre, one of the areas already tarred by oil from the Prestige, Lopez Veiga said.

The slick — estimated to contain 2.4 million gallons of fuel oil — was about 19 miles offshore Friday afternoon, meaning it traveled about 18 miles since Thursday night and probably would come ashore this weekend, he said.

It was unclear how the oil will spread once it reaches the offshore continental shelf, where currents are unpredictable.

"We have everything against us," Lopez Veiga told Galician radio. "We must prepare for the worst."

Officials say this oil spilled when the ship broke apart and sank, and anti-pollution ships have suctioned off 613,000 gallons so far.

If the whole slick came ashore, it would be far more oil than that which has hit the craggy, economically vibrant coast of Galicia since the ship started leaking fuel when its hull cracked in a storm some two weeks ago.

The 26-year-old, single-hulled ship took most of its fuel-oil cargo with it when it sank, but it spilled some 1.6 million gallons — contaminating a region that suffered another big spill a decade ago.

The oil has blackened hundreds of miles of beach and rocky shore and forced a ban on fishing and seafood harvesting along a 300-mile stretch. Tens of thousands of fishermen and other sea-dependent workers are living off government handouts.

The oil that went down with the ship was expected to solidify at that depth of more than two miles and temperatures just above freezing. A small French research submarine was heading to the site to check for leaks.

Seven oil-sucking skimmer boats from other European Union countries traveled to the main slick Friday but waves up to 23 feet kept some of them from working, the Interior Ministry said.
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How sad. How very VERY sad.

News story from CNN.COM Sunday, December 1, 2002 Posted: 1500 GMT

Fresh Oil slick hits cloast!

The latest slick is far bigger than an initial oil spill produced when one of the Prestige's tanks was holed, for unknown reasons, in a violent storm on November 13.

The new slick appears destined to pollute many of the same beaches that teams have laboriously cleaned up. The biggest fear is that it will strike rich shellfish grounds further south which have so far been spared.

The Galicia fishing region has been cleaning up its beaches and coastline since the initial spill of some 5,000 tonnes of oil fouled beaches with a foul-smelling bed of tar and killed or coated thousands of seabirds.

SEO, a bird conservancy group, estimates 10,000 birds have been killed or seriously injured by the slick.

The Prestige is more than 100 miles off the coast and more than two miles below.

A French submarine is to be deployed Monday to determine how much oil the tanker is still leaking.

Between 15 to 25 percent of the total 77,000 ton cargo of fuel oil is thought to have spilled.

-- CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman contributed to this report

I hope and pray that there is a way to extract what there is still inside the prestige otherwise were in for a REALLY LONG HAUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi everybody, it has been a while since I last checked in on the board.

Actually I was working on a short story about a fishing trip I did last year to Galicia, finishing it up around the time of the oil spill. The irony doesn't escape me, of course.

If anyone gets any additional insider-Spain info on the repercussions of this distaster, I would appreciate additional posts.

In an author's note at the end of my story I wrote "People die; places don't." I know Galicia isn't dead and it's people will be resilient, but the land must be weeping.

Churro

I believe Spain sould have taken in the Prestige I must admit that the Spanish government was not prepared for this sort of disaster this is obviously testing the EU's ability to handle disaster and in way it is working since clean up vessels have come from alot of European nations to help clean up the mess. Who sould we blame for this?? I believe first is the companies or what ever entity or entities was in charge of checking the ship for failures and a distant second the Spanish government sould take SOME heat for not being prepared. I hope this never HAPPENS AGAINS as far as im concerned ships carrying this sort of cargo souldn't be off Galicains coast or any other Spanish coast for that matter enough is enough. Any way one good thing did come out of it it showed that Europeans countries are willing to help each other out when one is in need and that is a great thing considering several years ago European countries were busy bombing and killing each other. Saludos

This is so sad . Check out this link. Apparently, the boat is leaking oil from the bottom of the sea, and oil is washing up in Asturias and Cantabria as well. France and Portugal are gearing up to protect/clean up their coastlines. What a tragedy!
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=1499486

oil is washing on on the beaches in bizkaia also. So far it hasn´t been too much, i think that they are able to clean it up in a day, but there are more slicks coming. El Correo (spanish)

It is tragic.
Like I said before, the responsible should be flogged mercilessly.

Any Spaniards (or anyone) know WHICH are the BEST organizations where one can get information on HOW TO VOLUNTEER TO HELP with cleanup/support efforts in Galicia??

My ladyfriend in Madrid told me last weekend she had thought to go one weekend but was told they have enough people, OR TOO MANY PEOPLE to help with cleanup efforts. Maybe Red Cross? Other specific organizations?

Hope to hear from you soon. The sooner the better.

Saludos, MadridMan

MadridMan,

This is what I've found:

http://www.elpais.es/especiales/2002/galicia

It has plenty of info. for your ladyfriend, but it's true, more volunteers will be needed later in the process, right now, there are too many (an estimate 10,000 people have travelled to the Galician coast this long-weekend alone to help!), and all the authorities, specially the Galician ones, insist that noone should decide to go without contacting them beforehand.

The news gets worse--now the Prestige is leaking 125 tons of oil per day. It takes about a day for the oil to reach the top. At that rate, it will leak for 480 DAYS!!! Let's hope they can suction off the oil before it hits land. read this link: http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=1883217

It is horrible... horrible.

Of the 77,000 tons of oil the ship had in its tanks 17,000 went out. Almost all of the coast of Galicia is covered with oil.

Fishermen are aiding to the point of taking the oil with their own hands. People from everywhere in Spain (and also some from other countries) are volunteering to Galicia to help to clean the coasts.

To what the fishermen have lost (the oportunity to fish and take shellfish) it must be added what the tourism is going to loose. In total almost 15% of the richness of Galicia.

National protected parks as the Cies Islands, Albora Island and Corrubedo have been touched. The Rías Baixas are going to suffer it too soon (when the oil can't be stoped cause the wind is pushing them in).

Hundreds of ships (including military, fishing and civil ones) are aiding to clean the sea. Almost 3000 soldiers are also there to aid.

Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country are already suffering the problem. Beaches covered with oil.

And this is just 17,000 tons. If the tanks collapse the rest (60,000 tons) would go free, and would get worse because the oil includes water and gets bigger.

Very very sad

Fernando

I'm so impressed to hear about the numbers of volunteers working to clean the beaches of Galicia...it's another indication of just how proud Spanish people are of their beautiful and geographically diverse country!

Here's what one American independent media outlet is saying today about the disaster:

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14771

Sadly, aside from that, it's basically dropped off the mainstream media radar screen over here, replaced by Trent Lott, Iraq, and all the rest.

Galicains complain about how Aznar hasn't showed up at the oil spill or helped.He comes and tries to help and then the Galicians complain and tell him to resign what exactly do they want??????????????????People are such whiners now a days and now Barcelona is whining like little magots what the heck I knew it... I knew this would happen like I said this would turn into anothere Galician Catalan and what ever the heck other ethnic group in Spain to complain about the problem to the Spanish goverment instead of the true criminals.

God, I can't even bear to read these articles. Today I was talking with my best friend who lives near Praia America in Nigran. She says sometimes at night she just wakes up crying for her beloved ocean. She was talking with some sailors from her town a few days ago who had taken their boats out and cleaned the oil up by hand with no protective gear at all. She said to them, "How can you do that? Aren't you afraid of getting cancer?" They told her, "We'd rather die of cancer 20 years from now than starvation tomorrow."

I just cannot believe the way the Spanish government has treated this disaster. Aznar has not visited any of the beaches and made his first appearance in Galicia THIS WEEK for only an hour or so with Fraga!! My friend told me the UK had offered a ship to the Spanish government to help clean up and they DENIED it... Then they offered it again, but to mayor of Vigo and he couldn't believe that Madrid had turned them down. This just pisses me off so much... I see my friends in Vigo cleaning their beaches.... my friends in Madrid went to San Vicente de la Barquera to clean up... Even I'm going to spend two of the three days I have in Galicia cleaning up the beaches. Almost everyone I know over there has spent their free time helping out yet the government doesn't even accept the much needed help of other countries. It makes me so sick that the people are giving everything they can to help out and get nothing back from the people who are supposed to represent them to the rest of the world.

Melinda

This tragedy is sad and I do feel sorry for the Galicians but lets face it the Spanish goverment are not super heroes ok they are not god I have real tough time believing that they dont want to help Galicia in every way possible they are just trying their best and did what they thought was best now come on. Im tired if people slandering the Spanish Goverment. How comes no anger has been directed at the owners of the Prestige or its afiliates NOOOOO got to be the Spanish Gov. because they are fascist they are the Franco lovers they love opresing people every thing they do is to make YOUR life worse!!!.....

I'm sorry, but I have yet to meet one Galician who feels the Spanish government has done everything they can to help them. They tried to cover everything up and make it look like they had it under control instead of accepting help. It didn't work and it got worse and now it has destroyed Asturias, Cantabria and El Pais Vasco.

I said NOTHING about Franco so please don't put words in my mouth. I don't think Aznar is a facist. I don't agree with all his politics, but I do not think he's a follower of Franco that oppresses the Spanish people. I won't say anything about Fraga, but if you know anything about his history, you would know that saying he's a follower of Franco is not a complete lie.

It is a well known fact in Spain that Galicia is not receiving the support it needs. There are protests almost every day about it. I keep very up to date with the news in Galicia - I read their papers daily. My closest friends are from Pontevedra and every day we discuss what's going on with the oil spill. I know what I am talking about when I say the government has not helped them. If you read Spanish, I will direct you to a link where you can read the entire history of articles on this crash. You will see almost all the estimates and predictions right after it happened came from Portugal, not Spain. You will not see any comments from Fraga until about a week after it happened. You will see Aznar has not visited a Galician, Asturian or Cantabrian beach to survey the damage. You will see that this disaster did not receive the help it needed at its most crucial point. My Galician friends feel it's because they're viewed as the hillbillies of Spain and if it had happened in Barcelona the government would have been there in a second. Who knows? Fact stands that the response was unacceptable and still isn't up to par.

I do not put the actual CRASH on the Spanish government. Yes, they contributed to it but it is NOT their fault completely. Nor is it completely the fault of the company that owned the ship. It is a huge international mess and of course everyone is upset about that as well. The disaster of how the innitial crash was handled is the fault of the Spanish government. And even they admitted they did a horrible job in handling it in a press conference last week so I'm not pulling this out of nowhere.

Galicia is very dear to me and is only slightly higher than Cantabria as my favorite place in Spain. They haven't received what they need and now their ecological system is destroyed and endangered species are extinct because the government didn't respond in the correct way. There is no getting around it or backing them. Once again, they are not completely at fault for the crash, but honestly... Even if it is a EU country, Spain should have responded in a SECOND to the crash rather than dragging it out so long and trying to shift the blame on other people while oil leaked out and destroyed more and more of the northern coast.

Melinda

I have been following this tradgedy closely in the Spanish press and with every passing day both my deep sadness and my anger grow. The whole world stands with Spain in her hour of need, but unfortunately many opportunist within Spain have chosen to seek political gains during this time of crisis. BNG and countless other political groups have undertaken an attack campaign; however, this difficult matter demands a unified effort.

The fuel continues to seep from the Prestige onto the pristine northern coastline of Spain, yet, the toxins emanating from the self-serving political gasbags are making the situation worse.
Americans witnessed a horrific tradgedy last year, but in contrast to the political dissension seen in Spain right now, American politicians came together. My spirits are lifted by the numerous volunters who are fighting to save Spain's natural splendour. Why can't the polticians role up their sleeves and join these Spanish patriots?

The recriminations can be dealt with after the cleanup. Spain and her government are not to blame for the disaster, the ship's owner and the agency that declared it seaworthy deserve the fingerpointing. Whether are not the decision to tow the vesel to deeper water was the best one, is an argument without end. How can anyone disparage the efforts of the Spanish government for not wanting to risk a disaster even closer to the coast line? Nobody can say with absolute certainty that the Prestige would have reached port without loosing her fuel. This kind of analysis can be dealt with after the cleanup.

It is a time for unified action in defence of Spain! May the politicans who have delayed this unity loose their jobs!

Concerned in California,

Shawn

Great post Shawn, I agree 100%.

I couldn't agree more with you Shawn...

I agree with Shawn. One note that we may all want to consider. Just a few months earlier, Spain signed off on a safety certificate for a tanker that is identical to the Prestige. In fact, that very same tanker was forced into International waters by the Spanish government when it was following the same path as the Prestige, after it went down.

This is not intended as a knock against Spain, but a knock against the petroleum handlers, who have used their money to gain political clout in most of the world. If nations don't agree wtih them, they just shut off the oil supply. That's blackmail in my book, and totally unacceptable.

The cost of this one disaster will far exceed the total cost that would be derived, if all of the single hull tankers in the world were put to scrap. Of course, to the shipping companies, that doesn't matter, because Spain is footing the bill for all of it, and they insure their single hull tankers for more money than they are worth. This leads to serious problems. When companies can get more for a vessel lost at sea, and the cargo, than it's worth, we're just asking for trouble.

Maybe it's time for the world community to institute laws that would require the shippers to pay for all damages caused by their ships? Possibly tie up their entire fleet, and assets, until it is done.

Just a thought. This thing is so callous, and unwarranted that it needs serious attention. According to marine biologists, fifteen of these disasters in one year could reduce the harvestable seafood by over 20% throughout the world. That's unbelieavable. International law has to change.

Wolf

What I sayed was just the overall impersan I get from the media coming out of Spain I didn't want to cram your mouth full of words.

It's quite amazing; the Comunidad de Madrid are now organizing groups of volunteers to constantly have teams of madrileños working in the cleaning process in Galicia....they just established this "organization" this week, and already they have enough volunteer work "suppy" to last until May of next year.

That's great news, pim. I hope my ladyfriend in Madrid was one who got on that list. She was hoping to go to Galicia either this weekend or next but now, after reading your post, I'm not so sure she'll be able to go so soon.

Saludos, MadridMan

For those of us trying to follow the news on this, read this link. It really brings the tragedy home. Especially those of us who have spent time in Galicia and northern Spain can appreciate the magnitude of all this. I don't see how Galicia will survive economically without its seafood.
http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/international.cfm?id=1411282002

I'll be in La Coruña this July for a few days, and I'm wondering what I'll find.....

Youl probably find a beach of tar