Coastal authorities warn of potential shipping disasters

Two tankers filled with crude oil are battling ice covering the Finnish Gulf, part of the Baltic Sea. The Greek tanker spent a week trapped in the icy surface, though fortunately it was freed yesterday. However, the threat that this might happen again is still looming. The second tanker, Luxemburg's "Kersaint", which is 182 meters long and contains 37,000 tonnes of oil and whose rudder was damaged by the ice, has been awaiting aid for two weeks. Such incidents are the result of some of the worst weather since 1987. Polish coastal authorities are demanding that 20-year old tankers do not set sail, fearing an oil-spill catastrophe worse than the one in Spain last year. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 11) A.C./K.Z.