2004 Speeches
APEC Workshop on Oil Spill Response and Planning
Remarks by Ambassador Franklin L. Lavin, Shangri-La Hotel Singapore; March 25, 2004, 9:10am
March 25, 2004
Thanks for that introduction Kathy. And thank you Rear Admiral Lui for Singapore’s hosting and co-sponsoring this workshop with the United States.
It is good to see so many representatives here today from APEC economies and from the petroleum industry. For this is a true transnational issue, and it is a public-private issue as well. It is these two themes - cross-border and cross-sector -- that I would like to leave with you today.
As to the transnational point, the business of transporting petroleum and chemicals is about as globalized as you can get. I am reminded of the vessel Prestige, which sank off the coast of Spain in November 2002. Here was a Liberian tanker, registered in the Bahamas, managed in Greece, and chartered by a company in Switzerland. The oil spilled affected primarily the Spanish coast, but the effects on bird populations went beyond Spain. One of the sad lessons of this episode was that a ship in distress was turned away by authorities in Spain and Portugal because it represented a risk. As a result the ship broke apart on the high seas, resulting in a far greater environmental disaster. The Prestige could go on leaking its remaining cargo of 20 million gallons - approximately twice what the Exxon Valdez spilled in Alaska - until the year 2006 or beyond.
The public-private point is worth reflecting on as well. Regulators need to work with industry, which often has useful ideas and procedures in place. Industry realizes that spills represent an economic loss. By keeping in regular discussion with industry, regulators can devise approaches that are realistic and respect commercial logic.
For its part, industry also needs to work with the regulators. All of our citizens want a safe and clean environment. If industry does not respond to this fundamental law of human nature, they put their operations in jeopardy. What country can host a company that puts the environment at risk?
The point is that good prevention and response strategies can cut down on the costs of an oil spill. But no one country working alone, nor governments nor the private sector by themselves, can mount effective prevention and response efforts. In the case of the Prestige, lack of accountability turned a manageable bad situation into an unmanageable catastrophe.
This workshop has an important role to play in bringing authorities and the private sector together to identify best practices that we can then shape into our own local prevention and response strategies. We are all here to share ideas because we understand that there is no competitive advantage to keeping response measures secret.
APEC members include some of the leading oil refiners, shippers, and processors as well as the world’s largest fleets and most vital sea lanes. There is no more appropriate gathering of talent and necessity to tackle this issue. Ladies and gentlemen, the United States is glad to join Singapore in co-sponsoring this conference. I wish you every success in your mission.
Thank you.