The bad weather we experienced on Sunday 6 October caused one of the ships berthed at the Freeport to cut its moorings and drift away from the jetty. This is obviously never a good thing but, in this case, what happened is even more alarming. It confirms what many experts have been saying, namely that the gas storage tanker permanently moored within Marsaxlokk Bay in front of the Freeport would pose a real danger.

There is a lesson to be learnt from what happened and it is precisely that, as the Nationalist Party has been saying all along, storms do occur and can be strong enough to affect ships inside Marsaxlokk Bay. Earlier this year, the PN, together with a number of experts, had argued that it would be safer to store gas outside the bay.

The occurrence of stormy weather can no longer be denied and its impact on ships – even large, heavy ones – cannot be ignored. In view of this, and after what happened on Sunday, the Nationalist Party is seeking more information from Minister Konrad Mizzi who, incidentally, has not appeared in public for the past several weeks. The following are some of the questions we would like to ask the minister:

1.     How many tugboats are planned to be on stand-by close to the gas tanker and ships berthed at the Freeport when the weather is as bad as it was last Sunday?

2.     Will the Marsaxlokk port be closed when there are storms of the same magnitude?

3.     On these occasions, will the power station be shut down so that, should there be a gas leak, the plant will not be a source of ignition?

4.     What does the risk assessment procedure propose whenever there are such storms?

5.     How can we be assured that, in the case of such storms, the pipelines carrying frozen LNG from ship to shore will be flexible and sturdy enough to cater for the moving and heaving tanker?  

6.     If some ship berthed close to the gas tanker breaks its moorings and starts drifting towards it, will the residents of the bay have to be evacuated?

7.     Can the Minister give us an estimate of the possible economic impact in the eventuality of a storm like the recent one, according to the various scenarios that have been evaluated?

8.     In the case of a stronger and longer storm, what precautions will have to be taken throughout the south of Malta?

9.     When is the Minister going to finally publish the risk assessment report which was supposed to have been prepared and should be ready by now?

 

 

George Pullicino is Opposition Spokesman for Energy