The quixotic handling of the TASMAN SPIRIT saga is perhaps amply illustrated by Lewis Carol's charming characters, the Walrus and the Carpenter discussing sand in the fairytale "Alice in Wonderland".

"If seven maids and seven mops swept it for a year,
Do you suppose" the Walrus said, "that they could get it clear?"
"I doubt it" said the Carpenter and shed a bitter tear.

Many a bitter tear have already been shed and more will undoubtedly be shed in the future as the grave realization sinks in of the magnitude of the disaster off Karachi which cannot be 'mopped' away.

Never in history have 15 million people been so seriously exposed as the citizens of Karachi have to the health hazards of 28,000 tons of oil at their doorstep. Other oil spills were invariably further away from dense population areas, where risk to health was far less serious. As for ecological damage, even on deserted coasts in countries where excellent management and technical support were available, it has often taken more than 10 years to clear the coast from harmful chemicals completely. Karachi's tragedy is one of a totally lackadaisical approach to the biggest man made disaster confronting the nation today.

The sorry saga of TASMAN SPIRIT started even before the ill-fated voyage began. The vessel is registered in Malta, de facto owned by the Greeks, operated from Piraeus, insured in London, with its P and I cover in the US. A typical decrepit flag of convenience vessel, it is an old, single hulled tanker, a category of ship effectively banned by the world's maritime community, as by law they have to be removed from the world's oceans in just over a year's time. Such ships currently trade solely in third world countries which specialize in circumventing international law to save a few dollars, irrespective of the consequences of their acts. A sub-standard ship should never have been chartered by the government and the PNSC in the first place.

Seven weeks into its grounding two things are now beginning to be generally understood. The Owner and his team are responsible solely for the safety of their vessel and not for our coast. The Pakistan government – federal and provincial – and various coastal authorities are responsible for the protection of our shores. One ship, the ENDEAVOUR II, was chartered by the Owners to lighten the grounded TASMAN SPIRIT so that it could be refloated. When it arrived after many days unbelievably it was found unsuitable for lighterage, the job for which it was hired! It was then designated for storage. A new search began for another ship while the TASMAN SPIRIT continued to be pounded constantly by the ferocious and unrelenting monsoon waves. After several more days the FAIR JOLLEY arrived, which took off some oil before it itself collided with the TASMAN SPIRIT and damaged its own hull. It will now remain on hire and its repairs will be carried out, all of which will end up earning its Owners well over half a million dollars. To replace the damaged FAIR JOLLEY, the Owners of TASMAN SPIRIT found a third ship, the SEA ANGEL, which has finally removed the last few thousand tons of oil which remained on board after 28,000 tons had escaped into the sea. Alas, by then two weeks having been totally wasted, the pounding monsoon waves took their toll and the TASMAN SEA began to break up, never to float or sail again. The owners had also brought in two powerful tugs to pull the TASMAN SPIRIT free after it was lightened. They have already been paid over a million dollars, though they never got to even starting to tow the ship. And an aircraft came all the way from Singapore to spray some chemicals, something several aircraft in Pakistan could easily have done.

Between the two tugs, three ships and one aircraft brought in by the Greek owners several million dollars have been distributed already, much of it going into the pockets of the team in Piraeus and their associates. In such calamities they are experts at making money. Pakistani authorities, through ignorance, naivity or incompetence lent them their full support. And permitted the ship to slowly die away. The TASMAN SPIRIT could easily have been lightered and saved within a couple of days of grounding. Why the Greeks failed to use the scores of craft available in Karachi for lighterage and immediate re-floating of the vessel, instead of waiting for two weeks to start the work with ships from distant ports, remains a mystery.

The loss of the ship could have been avoided had the Greeks so desired and taken the correct action. In that the Pakistani side can not be totally faulted. But they are at fault for having done nothing to avert the inevitable oil spill from a grounded tanker. Seven weeks earlier, alarm bells should have rung. In the prevailing culture of incompetence, everyone shirked responsibility. A spirit of de javu abounded. Complacency set in, compounded by the usual bravado, shouted hurrahs and breast thumping --- never mind if it is simple as losing a cricket match, complex as losing East Pakistan or unfortunate as losing a ship. Outrageous and irresponsible statements came from several government quarters downplaying the risk to millions of citizens exposed to toxic fumes, while distancing themselves of responsibility and passing the buck.

Even after the ship broke up and toxic fumes from thousands of tons of oil enveloped Karachi there was little effective action. Dead fish, turtles and birds by the hundreds littered the beaches while thousands of Karachi's citizens suffered respiratory problems and visited hospitals for treatment. Whereas the media constantly highlighted the inept response of government agencies, cleaning work continued to be totally unsatisfactory. Ten miles of beach were closed off and a rather dismal clean-up operation begun. The sight of workers on the beach is pathetic. They wear totally inadequate cotton overalls and use shovels to put contaminated sand into plastic buckets, for burying it in other parts of Karachi where the ground water will get contaminated as well, causing even more damage. This is the 21st century. There is ample equipment available, within Pakistan and elsewhere, to separate oil from water in the ocean, as well as to remove oil from sand and restore the beaches to their earlier condition. Sadly, it is not being used even today.

Where do we go from here? As far as the ship is concerned that is already history. Over the months and years ahead its skeleton will be removed from the harbour entrance, perhaps after much wrangling and disputes. The Greeks and their group will leave with several million dollars. But as for the seafront, cleanup is unlikely to take less than ten years. Citizen of Karachi will remain exposed to the perils of contaminated water, a contaminated sea front, contaminated fish, and the consequences of the poisons which have already entered their bodies. There will be increase in various diseases, including cancer. The livelihood of 300,000 fishermen will remain seriously jeopardized, with mangroves and the coastal waters badly contaminated. The fish hatching in such waters will go all over the seas and the catch off Karachi will remain suspect until the cleanup is handled correctly.

Cleanup work is essentially covered by three organizations. The KPT, under the federal communications ministry, will clean the port and KPT's coastland. The Defence Housing Authority is looking after of its own sea front. Here residents of Sea-view Apartments are amongst the worst hit and the highly ambitious Creek City Project is in the doldrums, its future uncertain unless cleanup work is completed properly. The rest of the effected sea-front includes Clifton beach. With its high rises and recreational beaches it is the worse effected and will have to be cleaned up by the Sind government. So far instead of getting on with their work, all these three organizations meet collectively with other bureaucrats as part of the inevitable "Coordination Committee" where there is a great deal of talk and very little action. Its proceeding are not recorded. No meaningful decisions are taken. In its latest meetings the only decision taken was to supply forty additional plastic buckets for the cleanup crew! There is a slight glimmer of hope, as KPT and DHA have initiated their own action in a more responsible manner than has the Sindh government so far.

Such cleanups always cost a fortune, which could run into billion of dollars. Based on experience of past accidents, the international community created the Civil Liability Convention and the International Pollution Compensation Fund in 1992 as a safety net. Hundreds of millions are immediately and easily available but only to participating states. Membership does not cost the states any money, because of which most countries of the world are members. Pakistan is not a member, solely because of the prevailing culture of incompetence and complacency, and therefore cannot benefit from this safety net. There are other means of accessing hundreds of millions, both under Pakistani law and under international maritime law, but only if the claims are taken up forcefully, professionally and expeditiously. It will cost money to pursue the cases, but that is a pittance in comparison to what can be collected. The culture of incompetence has already reduced our proud fleet of a hundred ships to a dozen decrepit old vessels and our main port from the best in the region to the one now best avoided. Will that same culture cause our coastline to be destroyed as well? It remains to be seen whether we can overcome the prevailing complacency to save our citizens from hardship and our beaches from destruction. Or will we once again make the long suffering tax payer, the fishermen and the citizens of Karachi face the consequences of bureaucratic mishandling and ineptitute. We are in for a rough ride.