could have seen the Island swamped by more than 31 million gallons of black crude oil.

The Mexican tanker Aguila Azteca ran aground on Bermuda's outer reef just two weeks after the grain carrier Sealuck -- and within 100 yards of each other.

"Had the Aguila Azteca broken up, which it nearly did, a cordon of oil one square metre would have formed around the Island, finding its way into every bay, nook and cranny,'' Environment Minister Sen. Gerald Simons said yesterday.

The economic repercussions would have been formidable, affecting every area of life, perhaps ruining tourism and international business.

Sen. Simons made the point as he joined others in putting the focus on prevention and recovery of such a disaster at the start of the annual two-day Marine Pollution Contingency Committee (MPCC) Seminar.

Dr. Thomas Sleeter, Environment Ministry engineer, told a gathering that included representatives from Government, industry, Police and the science community that Bermuda had limited options should a major oil spill occur.

"Bermuda cannot cope on its own in a major disaster,'' he said. "The Island can only contend with a spill of up to 100 tons. After that, we would need outside help.

"The biggest problem is that we have no real facilities for the disposal of recovered oil. However, most spills naturally dissipate or are blown out to sea.'' But in preparation for a major catastrophe, the MPCC has proposed a scientific experiment to be conducted 25 miles off Bermuda in 1995.

Open water in-situ burning -- setting fire to an oil spill on the water -- has been proposed as an option. The Hazardous Response and Assessment Department of the US Department of Commerce has asked Government's permission to conduct the trials next year.

Dr. Sleeter attended a similar trial off Newfoundland, Canada in August last year.

Scientific tests were conducted on both the water and air around the slick, and 99 percent of the oil was burned off the water surface.

Bermudian involvement in an exercise conducted here would give locals first-hand training, strengthen response capabilities and provide new technology with dealing with a major oil spill.

Another helping hand in disaster preparedness comes from the Clean Caribbean Cooperative (CCC). Field Supervisor Mr. Burl Wescott said that the CCC was a consortium of 17 oil companies sharing costs in order to provide equipment and materials at short notice for the cleaning up of oil spills in the Caribbean.

"This is a non-profit organisation, based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida,'' he said. "It provides chemical dispersion, in-situ burning, containment, protection, mechanical recovery, temporary storage and communications capabilities. Bermuda is covered in the CCC area of interest, and Shell and Esso are member companies.'' As part of the disaster preparedness training, a booming exercise, in which a floating barrier is used to contain an oil slick, will be demonstrated by the MPCC in St. George's Harbour this morning.