Brussels, 07/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - European Commissioner Loyola de Palacio announced after a meeting on Wednesday with William O'Neil, General Secretary of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), that the Commission would be suggesting that the IMO review the Marpol Convention on prevention of maritime pollution. The convention mainly gives a timetable for phasing out single hull tankers at the international level, within the framework of the proposals recently adopted by the Commission. It recommends that the EU should speed up the process of phasing out single hull tankers and place a ban on the transport of heavy fuel by these vessels. Commissioner de Palacio is nonetheless awaiting the position of the Council and European Parliament on the follow-up to be given to the Prestige oil tanker disaster (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.10), and trusts that the proposals will be approved this month, especially during the Transport Council on 27 March. Ms de Palacio and Mr O'Neil agreed on a joint declaration in which they acknowledge the need for overall regulation of maritime navigation, mainly for single hull tankers, and the need to strengthen prevention of pollution by tankers at global level via the IMO. Nonetheless, in the context of the Prestige, the EU must continue to play its role to improve coastal protection. Furthermore, the declaration recognises the need for preventive action to detect structural weaknesses in ageing oil tankers, both single and double hulled, and the need to enhance flag State performance, to designate sensitive navigation sea areas and to identify places of refuge for ships in distress. On this point, the Commissioner welcomed the fact that the IMO had adopted guidelines and announced its intention to use them when establishing places of refuge within the EU. Finally, the Commission restated its wish to rapidly become a member of the IMO.