Greenpeace confronts ship owner with effects of sending toxic ships to Asia for scrap
Amsterdam 19th July 2002 - Last night, Greenpeace paid an unexpected visit to a ship in Amsterdam harbour that it suspects is about to be sent to Asia for scrap without first being cleaned of dangerous toxic materials. The environmental organisation projected a movie onto the hull of the 'Gerd' to confront the ship's owner with the devastation it will cause if it sends its ship to Asia without decontaminating it first.
"Western shipping companies are using Asia as a dumping ground for their toxic waste. When ships arrive here containing dangerous materials, workers are put at severe risk. Deaths caused by explosions are commonplace and people and environment are routinely exposed to some of the deadliest toxics known to science," said Ganesh Nochur, Greenpeace campaigner in India.
On 10 April 2002, the 'Gerd' was detained in the port of Amsterdam because its Norwegian owners were in debt. On 27 June, it was sold to a Liberian company 'Advanced Distribution Company Limited'. It is, however, unclear if they still own the ship. According to the shipping paper 'Fairplay' - in which sales of ships are registered- the 'Gerd' has now been sold to 'unknown breakers'. (1)
Every year, about 700 ships containing toxic waste such as asbestos and heavy metals are sent to scrap yards in Asia. This number is set to increase dramatically over the next few years because single hull oil tankers will be obsolete by 2015. Greenpeace has investigated the conditions at several shipbreaking yards in Asia and is concerned that workers and the environment are being put at grave risk. The ships are torn apart by workers that do not have adequate protection and the toxic pollution is routinely released from the ships into the environment.
Greenpeace is not against the scrapping of vessels but wants to protect the Asian environment from toxic hazards. It is demanding that ships for scrap are recognised as hazardous waste, that a full inventory of all waste on board vessels is made and that they are decontaminated prior to export. (2)
"It's time the shipping industry takes responsibility for decontaminating its vessels and for governments to hold ship owners liable for any damage they inflict on people and the environment if they do not scrap ships in an environmentally friendly manner, " said Greenpeace campaigner Frank Petersen in the Netherlands.
Fairplay International Shipping Weekly, July 11 2002.
On June 19th 2002, the Highest Court in the Netherlands, the Council of State in The Hague, ruled that the 'Sandrien', another ship destined for scrapping in India which contains asbestos, heavy metals and other toxic materials, should be classified as toxic waste. This set a vital precedent that in future all scrap ships must be cleaned of toxic materials before being sent to shipbreaking-yards.
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