The Spaniards have fired the latest shot with a move to have the ABS struck off by the European Commission (EC). The move would revoke ABS' right to inspect and certify ships flagged in EU nations, which drew an outraged response from ABS management.
This latest action comes after the ABS started legal action against the government of Spain seeking recovery for any claims made against the classification society for damages arising from the Prestige casualty (incident).
The ABS action is itself an aggressive response to the suit filed by the government of Spain seeking more than $US700 million in damages for the pollution caused by the sinking of the tanker.
The ABS counterclaim alleges that the extensive pollution that occurred can be directly attributed to the Spanish Government's failure to properly activate and implement an effective oil spill contingency plan as required by Spanish law.
It also alleges that the Government's decision to deny the vessel access to a place of refuge was a clear violation of its legal duty and that the Government acted recklessly, negligently and grossly negligently in its response to the casualty.
The ABS also alleges that the actions taken by the Spanish Government directly contravened its obligations under the 1989 Salvage Convention, to which Spain is a signatory.
To support their claims ABS has pointed to the recently released Draft Report on the casualty issued by the Transport Committee of the European Parliament which notes that the lack of an appropriate contingency plan, the failure to provide a place of refuge and the actions taken by the Spanish authorities resulted in the extensive pollution.
The Parliamentary Report stated that the assessment by the Spanish authorities of the vessel's condition, the expertise of its crew and the quality of the inspections the vessel had already undergone do not tally with the testimony of, in particular, the Smit salvage company, the director of EMSA (the European Maritime Safety Agency), the insurers and the classification society.
