The Isles of Scilly has been controversially left out of a Government list of 32 Marine High Risk Areas.
Ship captains sailing British waters are being asked to take extra care in areas particularly vulnerable to maritime spillage disasters.
32 Marine Environmental High Risk Areas (MEHRAs) have been identified by the government. These are areas in which the perceived impact on marine and bird life of any shipping disaster involving oil or other toxic substances would be disastrous.
The MEHRAs cover 9% of Britain’s coastline, but complaints are already arising over omitted areas, such as the Isles of Scilly and western Scotland’s Minch.
The idea for MEHRAs emerged from the late Lord Donaldson’s report into the 1993 Braer tanker disaster, when a tanker carrying 85,000 tonnes of crude oil ran aground off the Shetland Islands.
The Isles of Scilly suffered a similar experience in March 1967 when the 974-ft tanker Torrey Canyon, carrying 100,000 tons of crude oil, hit the Seven Stones reef.
An oil spill spread along the sea between England and France, contaminating up to 70 miles (113km) of beaches on the south coast of Britain and more than 20,000 sea birds.
Thanks to Divernet magazine.