When OPA 90 was introduced in wake of the Valdez accident, the stipulation that tankers trading in the U.S. must be double hulled was roundly panned throughout the world, as industry experts bemoaned the fact that one country have such a deciding impact on vessel design. How soon they forget. Ten years and a few tragic sinkings off European shores have let to Italy's sudden plan to ban single-hulled tankers from seven key port areas, a move which some contend will cripple a pipeline feeding oil to Germany from the Italian port of Trieste, a leading brokerage warned. "The ban will be felt in Germany and Austria," said Italy's largest brokerage Banchero Costa.
