Single hull tanker ban rushed through Korean legislature

In the wake of the nation's worst ever oil spill, South Korea will ban single-hulled tankers from its waters from 2011, five years earlier than planned.

According to the Maritime Ministry, the law banning single hull vessels from January 2011 will be reviewed by the Ministry of Government Legislation and go into effect in two weeks. Tankers carrying light crude oil will be affected by this new law as heavy-oil single-hull carriers were banned in 2005 under related international agreements. Under the new law, owners of single-hull tankers will have to renovate their ships to give them a second hull or change them into bulkers. The new law comes six weeks after the hull of the Hebei Spirit VLCC was ruptured via a collision with a crane barge leading to some 10,500 metric tons of fuel spilling into the sea and washing up on the shores around Taean, South Chungcheong Province. Police for their negligent actions have charged both owners, Hosco and Samsung. Koreans are one of the largest charterers of single hulled tankers In the first 11 months of last year, 171 out of 354 oil tankers calling at Korean ports were single-hulled ones, the ministry said.
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