JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
10 February 2004
- –Christos Zacharakis and Thomas Mann on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
- –Margrietus J. van den Berg and Giorgos Katiforis on behalf of the PSE Group
- –Bob van den Bos on behalf of the ELDR Group
- –Alexandros Alavanos, Efstratios Korakas and Emmanouil Bakopoulos on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
- –Theodorus J.J. Bouwman on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
- –Cristiana Muscardini on behalf of the UEN Group
- –ELDR (B5‑0078/2004),
- –PSE (B5‑0081/2004),
- –GUE/NGL (B5‑0086/2004),
- –UEN (B5‑0087/2004),
- –PPE-DE (B5‑0096/2004),
European Parliament resolution on the fate of the Greek sailors in Karachi
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on shipping disasters,
– having regard to Rule 50(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas on 27 July 2003 the tanker Tasman Spirit, carrying 67 000 tons of oil, ran aground while under instructions from a local pilot and subsequently broke in two, losing 30 000 tons of oil at the entrance to the port of Karachi, which caused a serious ecological disaster,
B. whereas, although the causes of the accident remain to be determined, at the time of the accident the vessel was unquestionably under the orders of a local pilot and whereas the vessel entered the port at a time when the tide was too low for a vessel of this type,
C. whereas Pakistan has not signed the International Civil Liability Fund Convention, signed by 124 countries, and therefore does not adhere to the legal procedure laid down by the Convention with regard to damages,
D. whereas on 3 October the Pakistan authorities prohibited the members of the crew of the Tasman Spirit (four Greeks and three Filipinos) from leaving Pakistan,
E. whereas the Pakistan authorities have also arrested the engineer Nicolaos Pappas, who arrived in Pakistan twenty days after the tanker went aground, who was in no way responsible either for the accident or for the fuel leak but who, on the contrary, as director of the salvage undertaking, succeeded in pumping out 9000 tons of the oil remaining in the grounded vessel,
F. whereas the prolonged detention of the sailors has had a devastating impact on their psychological condition and whereas one of them, the vessel's third engineer, Giorgos Koutsos, attempted to commit suicide on 5 January 2004,
G. whereas Mr Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament, Mr Chris Patten, Member of the Commission, and Mr Javier Solana, High Representative for the CFSP, have expressed their concern to the Pakistan authorities on this subject,
1. Expresses its concern about the situation of the members of the crews of the tanker and of the salvage vessel and of Nicolaos Pappas;
2. Considers the detention of the crew members to be unacceptable;
3. Calls on the Government of Pakistan to free the persons who have been detained, give an assurance that it will be possible for them to be repatriated and adhere to the procedure laid down by international law to ensure that compensation is paid for all the damages;
4. Calls on the Commission and Council to make the requisite diplomatic efforts to resolve this affair;
5. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Secretary General of the United Nations and the Government of Pakistan.