The tanker owners' organization Intertanko, said on Thursday it is ready to discuss proposals by the European Commission to keep ships in port during storms - a move that some fear will disrupt oil supply. The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency estimates that last year about 380 million barrels of crude sailed through the English Channel. Intertanko points out that neither the French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot nor the EU Transport Minister Loyola de Palacio have yet specified what exactly they mean by extreme weather conditions. Nor have they said what types of ship or cargo they expect to hold back during storms. The British Meteorological Office says that during an average winter in the western English Channel, winds exceed gale force eight for 15 percent of the time.