press release
    19th November 2004

Public pledges and Mulheim litter to be sent to Shipping Minister every day

It's been nearly 20 months since the RMS Mulheim ran aground off Lands End spilling its cargo of scrap car plastics into pristine waters. A delayed salvage operation led to much of the 2000 tonnes of car scrap ending up on an array of Cornish beaches reaching as far as 200 miles away.

From today Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) are sending a piece of Mulheim waste collected from Cornish beaches to the Shipping Minister each day until a prosecution is brought against the boat's owners. Attached with every piece of Mulheim litter is a message from a supporter of SAS to the Minister expressing their concerns .

Perranporth SAS member Andy Leatherbarrow was the first to post his piece of Mulheim to the Minister this morning.
Andy said: "I find it hard to believe that after all this time no prosecution has been made. Surely you (the Minister) can see the damaging effect this has had on our beaches?"

A Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report into the Mulheim grounding found that the Captain had knocked himself out after catching his trousers getting up from his seat. He was the only one on watch so the rest of the crew were oblivious to what was happening until it hit the rocks and then they were uncertain as to their position as they had not been plotting their progress correctly.

Mulheim cargo continues to be a presence on the regions beaches - much of it is plastic so will take years to break down in the Environment. SAS also learnt of the presence of PCB's and heavy metals in the cargo placing a further threat on the marine environment from these harmful substances.

We have still not seen the Shipping Minister, David Jamieson MP bring forward a prosecution. In fact a decision has not yet been made on whether this will even happen. Prosecutions against ship owners for pollution incidents in the UK have been woefully inadequate. Only 1 in every 500 maritime pollution incidents were prosecuted in a 5-year period between 1995 and 2002.

Richard Hardy, SAS Campaigns Director: "Despite an MAIB report that highlighted failings in the run up to the Mulheim's grounding, we are becoming increasingly fearful that the polluter in this case could escape a prosecution. We hope a strong show of public support for this campaign will help tip the balance back towards some environmental justice".

For more information please contact Richard Hardy on Tel: 0845 4583001 or Mob: 07711 767548.

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