Spain said today it was prepared to deploy its navy to stop an ageing, single-hulled tanker from entering its waters, a year after a similar tanker on the same route sank and caused vast ecological damage.
A US oil firm has chartered the Russian-flagged Geroi Sevastopolyato carry heavy fuel oil to Singapore, passing around Spain's coast in December. The ship was due to load yesterday from Ventspils in Latvia.
The Sevastopolya, however, will not be permitted within Spain's 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), Spain said.
"The Spanish Navy has been alerted ... to prepare appropriate operations and, if necessary, to position a ship to wait for the Geroi Sevastopolyaas it approaches Spanish waters," Spain's Development Ministry said in a statement.
Under the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea all ships have rights of innocent passage through the EEZ, according to maritime experts, but this would not be the first time Madrid has acted to avoid another Prestige-like disaster.
Earlier this year Spanish and French navy gunboats prevented tankers they deemed too risky from entering their respective economic zones. In the Spanish case Madrid drew a formal rebuke from Norway.