A nightmare that can't be wished away

By Vaiju Naravane

LORIENT (BRITTANY), JAN. 7. The grey seal has tender, enquiring eyes. Its coat still looks streaky and oil stained. Covered in browny-black oil and nearly dead from exhaustion, it washed up on Kerpape beach in the small fishing town of Lamour Plage and was brought to the Centre for the Protection of Birds.

``It had swallowed huge quantities of oil. We had to battle for its life. We realise now that it's not just birds but even sea mammals who have been affected by the oil slick,'' says Emmanuel Marquis of the Bird Protection League. An estimated 100,000 birds have been affected by what is turning out to be one of the worst ecological disasters Europe has ever known. Fuel oil from the wrecked oil tanker Erika which sank off the coast of Brittany on December 13 has reached France's Atlantic shores and the beaches are covered with a thick black slime which has to be painstakingly removed.

``We have collected over 8,000 birds at the centre here. But so many more are being brought in that we are unable to wash and feed all of them. Only about 15 per cent of the affected birds will be saved,'' said Patrick Lebohec, who has been working as a volunteer for the past week. Many of the birds have been sent to other European nations but most are dead on arrival.

Martine, a volunteer, begins her days at 8.00 am on Valentin Beach at Batz-sur-mer. She is dressed as if for a commando raid, in a thick nylon overall windcheater which protects her from the cold and strong winds which have buffeted the coast of Brittany. Bending determinedly in the wind, she shove the slimy gluey deposits into large plastic bins that dot the beach. Her overalls are covered in chocolate brown stains, her face is drawn and tired. ``This is man's work,'' she complains. ``I try to take a break every half an hour. The enormity of our task depresses me. It's never ending. I had just cleared a five- metre patch and now look it has been covered over with slime again. Its like running on the spot,'' she says.

The clean-up job is expected to be huge. Storms which hit the French coast in the days following the break up of the Erika have pulverised the oil slick into little goblets. These have entered the nooks and crannies of Brittany's coast, which is considered a haven for holidaymakers.

Fishing on the beaches has been forbidden and oyster beds have been polluted. ``The exact extent of the catastrophe is not yet known. All we know is that it is going to severely affect the livelihood of Brittany's fishermen and those in the tourism industry. And that means losses amounting to millions of francs. In any case several damage suits are being filed by individuals and municipilaties,'' said a representative from the chamber of commerce.

``The wind has been blowing the pollution on to the rocks and the beaches. Even the Loire estuary has been affected because of the force of the wind - about 150 km per hour. What we need is more mechanised means of clearing up this mess. Where are those responsible for this disaster? All I can see is a small clutch of volunteers, a few army personnel, people like myself who depend upon the beaches for our livelihood,'' moans Joachim Lopez, who runs a holiday complex on the beach. In fact, the means at their disposal are laughable. Plastic bags which cannot take the weight of the oil, simple spades and buckets. ``What can you do with spades and buckets in the fact of 12, 000 tonnes of oil?'' asks Joachim.

The French are furious with Totalfina, the petroleum giant which had chartered the Erika. Mr. Thierry Demarest, president of the company, admitted he had failed to measure the extent of the catastrophe. ``We thought the greater part of the oil spill would be dispersed away from the coast and that the catastrophe would be localised. We were all surprised when the oil touched shore on Christmas Day. This may have contributed to the impression that we did not care,'' he said. Totalfina, whose image has taken a severe battering, has promised to spend over 500 million francs to clean up France's shores and to establish a Foundation for the Sea which will protect marine life and sea birds and undertake restoration of affected sites and monuments. He also pledged to exercise ``greater care'' in the choice of vessel for the transport of his company's oil and crude.

On her return from the Christmas break, Judge Dominique de Talance has restarted the criminal enquiry into the break-up of the Erika. Its Indian skipper Karun Sunder Mathur, who was released before Christmas, is still in France. French authorities are interrogating him on the exact circumstances of the accident. He is likely to be charged with marine pollution and endangering human life. There has been some controversy about the distress signals sent by the Erika with the captain and port authorities giving contradictory versions about the time and exact nature of the SOS messages.

The Erika belongs to a Maltese company called Tevere shipping. But the real owner is a Naples-based Italian family called Savarese. An Italian company Panship Management of Ravenna handled the chartering of the Erika. But here the picture about the real owners of the Erika becomes cloudy. For a further contract to find clients for the ship was awarded to a company called Selmont International allegedly based at Nassau in the Bahamas. The chamber of commerce in Nassau says it has no trace of such a company.

Capt. Jamshed Appoo, who heads the Indian company Herald Maritime Services which supplied the Erika's all-Indian crew, said it would be practically ``impossible'' to find the real owners of the ship. ``These are all paper companies and it is very difficult to establish who the real owners are,'' he said.

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