More than two months have passed since the Russian fishing vessel Oleg Naydenov sank just fifteen miles from Maspalomas. Two months in which the Ministry of Development and the Government of the Canary Islands, with the support of experts and volunteers, have managed a crisis that will not be definitively resolved until the 1,400 tons of fuel inside are extracted.
Many questions exist about what happened since the decision was made for the ship to leave the port of Las Palmas, its strange journey through our waters until its final sinking south of Gran Canaria. These questions should serve for public administrations, with the advice of experts, to adopt conclusions that serve as references to contain the consequences of future similar events.
It is an issue that we must take very seriously so that a rigorous analysis is carried out and conclusions are drawn for the future. What would have happened if it had been a tanker with 50,000 tons of fuel, and not a fishing boat with 1,500? What would have been the consequences if it had sunk north of Gran Canaria, and not south? Or what would have been the magnitude of the catastrophe if it had been at another time of the year and with other current conditions?
This week, in the plenary session held in Congress, I conveyed all these questions and concerns to the Minister of Development, Ana Pastor, in which the need to shield the protection of our coasts and the marine environment underlies. Her response was not what I would have liked, beyond acknowledging that she is going to create a working group with the participation of Puertos del Estado and the Port Authorities, so I hope that there will be an appearance in the near future to delve into this matter.
Accidents of this type cannot be avoided, but prevention actions and the technical, scientific and human resources necessary to deal with them can be improved, and this experience with the Russian fishing vessel should serve to improve and prevent future oil spills in the Canary Islands. We must not forget that the archipelago is a transit area for large oil tankers and a world reference destination for cruises.
The Canary archipelago has been the scene of numerous hydrocarbon spills for decades, seriously endangering the health of people, the natural environment, fauna and vital productive sectors such as fishing and tourism.
It is essential, as the Wildlife Rescue and Volunteer Support Group has pointed out, to urgently consolidate a highly qualified response system, technically trained and equipped with the necessary material resources and protocols, to react to future cases of acute contamination in the Canary Islands. These systems have existed in other countries for decades and are perfectly articulated and equipped.
The system must integrate close and real coordination between all competent public administrations, grant a real and specific weight to citizen volunteering, and attend to a preventive program that precisely contemplates response mechanisms to impact scenarios of different magnitudes, designating municipal, island, provincial, regional and state coordinators to improve the effectiveness of the action.
A rigorous evaluation of the risk rates of spills of hydrocarbons or other substances into the marine environment in the Canary Islands must be urgently addressed, adopting preventive measures to reduce it: refuge ports, fire extinguishing operations, reaction protocols in the event of accidents, periodic tests, greater control over ships with toxic cargoes in transit through the islands and that the surveillance program of the European Union Maritime Safety Agency remains permanently active over the Canary waters to increase the probability of identifying those ships that deliberately spill hydrocarbons.
If the last 10 years are considered, the frequency of hydrocarbon spills in the marine environment of the Canary Islands is one every 255 days. Therefore, the concern that exists is maximum. And I hope that this concern will serve to draw rigorous conclusions and make responsible decisions.
Ana Oramas, deputy of Coalición Canaria