Palma.The Partido Popular in Calvia have been fighting for at least five years to sink the scrapped frigate Baleares, which was donated by the Ministry of Defense when she was taken out of service, off the coast to create an artificial reef.
Similar schemes have been carried out in the UK, off Southampton, the States and Australia but Greenpeace and the Ministry for the Environment objected to the ship being sunk just 100 metres from the protected Calvia Marine Reserve.
Despite Calvia Councillor's commitment to having the frigate completely stripped of any toxic and dangerous material, the High Court yesterday ratified a ruling against sinking the ship first handed down in 2007.
Calvia appealed, but now appear to have lost and opponents hope that the local authority accepts the ruling and does not try to lodge another appeal.
The idea behind the project was to create an artificial reef for divers and also a new haven for marine species in the area.
However, while the environmental group supports the promotion of sustainable tourism, such as diving, its Coastal Campaign director, Pilar Marcos, considered it too dangerous to sink a steel 133-metre former war ship just 100 metres away from a very important marine reserve.
We now hope that the PP will stop pressuring the Ministry for Environment to find a loop hole to push ahead with the project, she said yesterday.
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