"torrey Canyon"

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 10 April 1967.

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Photo of Lieut-Colonel Stephen Maydon Lieut-Colonel Stephen Maydon , Wells 12:00, 10 April 1967

The record will show what the hon. Gentleman said.

Once aground, and at that speed, and with the amount of hull damage which was obviously done, and with the notoriously gaseous character of the cargo, Kuwait crude, it must have been known that the chances were small and the hazards were great in any attempt to salvage the hull. It must have been known that there was a widespread risk of pollution by the escape of the crude oil. This was inevitable. In my opinion, every effort should then have been made to salvage as much as possible of the cargo without attempting to move the ship.

I know well the difficulties of ownership, of registration, and of charterers, all being of different nationalities, and I know well the difficulties of maritime law concerning salvage, but there is a point where a Government must step in, and I would have thought that in the very early stages, when the weather was still moderate and there was a good chance of doing something to mitigate this nuisance, if not to clear it up altogether, that chance should have been taken.

Later the Government did not show much scruple when authorising the bombing. It would have been a lot better if they had made an earlier decision to attempt to pump out or, alternatively, to blow out—and when I say "blow", I do not mean by high explosive bombs but by compressed air—the cargo of crude. I realise that a gaseous cargo of this nature involves risks, but during those early days many people were still on board, and so far we have had no precise evidence of the way in which the salvage captain died so tragically during the course of his work in the engine room. There are conflicting reports on this point.

The load was 117,000 tons and any small part of that which could have been salvaged and taken into a secure hull would have helped to prevent pollution. The destruction by fire brought about by bombing or by other means is the resort of the destitute in a case of this nature. We do not yet know whether the cargo itself has been totally destroyed or whether only the light oils have been burnt off, leaving a tarry residue to come ashore later and pollute our beaches.

Hon. and right hon. Members of the Government may laugh, but this will be no laughing matter when it happens. Clearing that sort of substance will make the clearing of ordinary crude oil mere child's play. That is where the Government made their great mistake, and that is where I criticise them.

I acknowledge the difficulties involved, but this at least was a possibility which could have been tackled in those few days between 19th March—the day after the ship foundered—and 23rd March. There is such a manoeuvre as laying off a small tanker on the end of a long warp, with a heavy chain cable springing the warp, and letting that tanker run her engines very slowly astern so as to keep herself taut down to leeward, and then to rig floating hoses or floating blowing lines. That has been done before with success, and it could have been attempted in this case. It is on that ground that I condemn the technical advice which the Government were anxious to take wholesale without considering the alternatives. That is where the fault lay.