Italy plans to ban single hull tankers from seven port areas from April 23 to reduce risks of environmental damage, said an anonymous Environment Ministry official said. The official confirmed remarks by Environment Minister Willer Bordon in Genoa earlier this week that the government was preparing a directive aimed at improving safety standards. "This directive represents a notable leap in safety," Bordon said on the sidelines of a seminar on maritime oil traffic organized by local environmental groups. The ban will apply to the following seven port areas: a sea mammal sanctuary stretching from the upper Tyrrhenian Sea to the Ligurian Sea…