France Braces for Oil Slick From Tanker to Hit Coast

A huge oil slick from a broken-up tanker looked almost certain to reach France’s Atlantic coast despite desperate mopping up by an international flotilla of pollution-fighting ships Tuesday.

French Transportation Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot told the National Assembly that the nine ships could have pumped up to 1,000 tons of the heavy fuel oil by the end of the day.

It was a big step forward from Monday’s first real day of cleaning up, when the ships sucked in less than 100 tons.

But it was still a long way from significantly reducing the giant slick of up to 15,000 tons of oil, and high winds forecast to return today are expected to hamper further pumping.

Asked on RTL radio if it was now “absolutely impossible to avoid” coastal pollution, Adm. Yves Naquet-Radiguet, who is in charge of the Atlantic coast, said: “Impossible, I don’t know. But, yes, it does seem very difficult to avoid, and it now looks very probable that the slick will arrive.”

The viscous, chain-like slick of heavy fuel oil has been drifting slowly since the Maltese-registered tanker Erika broke up in stormy seas off northwestern France on Dec. 12 with 25,000 tons aboard. Its 26 crew members were all rescued.

The weather service said the first oil could hit Ile d’Yeu island Christmas Eve, with the mainland affected beginning Christmas morning amid waves of up to 20 feet.

Workers in La Rochelle, farther down the coast, lined up floating booms across the port’s mouth, and authorities ordered several army regiments on alert to help mop up the oil if it reaches the coast.

Extra booms totaling 12 miles were to be shipped to La Rochelle and the Vendee region by today. Experts, however, warned that the oil would spill over the booms in heavy seas.

Many fishing towns along the coast called in bailiffs to certify that their coast was free of pollution Tuesday--a legal requirement if they need to file insurance claims later.

Fishermen from the Breton port of Guilvinec to the north, worried about their livelihood, called for a boycott of products from the French TotalFina firm whose oil was being carried by Erika.

TotalFina has said the ship was the responsibility of the Italian shipowner, Panship Management. The Erika’s Indian captain, Karun Mathur, is being held in Paris pending an inquiry.

Gayssot said technical, administrative and judicial inquiries would determine who was responsible.