Page 29: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 2001)

Politics of refuge" nor is there a definition of what constitutes a "ship in distress," an

IMO spokesman said.

On December 8, the damaged VLCC

Eastern Power, carrying 250,000 tons of

Iraqi crude, was refused entry to Cana- dian waters after it reported a minor leak during heavy storms. It eventually con- tinued through heavy seas to St. Eusta- tius in the Caribbean for the cargo to be offloaded. The tanker Erika was also refused refuge in December 1999 before it broke apart in a storm, leading to a major spill of fuel oil across the coast- line of Brittany.

ABS Under Fire, Fights Back

As was the case when the Erika went down off the coast of France in late 1999, much (unwanted) attention has been focused on the classification soci- ety for the damaged product tanker Cas- tor, in this case American Bureau of

Shipping. Unlike the aforementioned example, however, ABS has been aggressively addressing the matter in the (Continued on page 60)

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February, 2001 www.maritimetoday.com 29

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