News

Turkish authorities turn back European ship attempting to illegally dump toxic waste in Turkey on Greenpeace warning

Istanbul, July 11th 2003 - After Greenpeace urged the Turkish authorities, they acted and turned back the possibly hazardous waste containing ship Novocherkassk while it was being towed from Spain to Aliaga shipbreaking yards to be scrapped.

The Ukranian flagged vessel named Novocherkassk was abandoned in the Port of Vigo in Spain by its ex-owner and was sold for scrap to German company MSK. MSK is the same company who brought the asbestos ship Sea Beirut last year to Turkey [1]. On 1st of July the ship left Vigo port, being tugged by a tug boat and it was still on its way to Turkey when the Turkish authorities acted to order the ship to go back to Spain.

The ship for scrap is 29 years old and therefore there is a big possibility that it contains asbestos and other toxic materials on board. Spanish authorities did not inform the Turkish authorities about their action, even though both countries are parties to the Basel Convention and Turkish laws do not allow hazardous waste importation.

The incident happened just after two weeks when the European Commission has declared that the shipping industry must clean its ships of hazardous materials before exporting them to Asia for scrap.

"It seems like the European countries did not take any lesson from the Sea Beirut case, where Turkey clearly stated that it is illegal to send toxic ships for scrap to Turkey. This toxic ship has been exported illegally and must now go back to Spain. It is clearly unacceptable that Spain and other European countries are illegally dumping hazardous waste in Turkey, exposing its people and the environment to some of the most dangerous substances known to science," said Greenpeace campaigner Erdem Vardar. "This illegal trade will continue unless the EU ensures its shipping industries clean their vessels of hazardous materials before they are exported," he added.

Up to hundred ships are scrapped in Turkey every year. At least 50 % of them come from Western European shipping companies. The costs for dismantling toxic ships in Turkey are lower than in Europe because not even basic requirements for the protection of people and the environment are met at shipbreaking yards such as Aliaga where shipbreaking practices are comparable to those in China, India and Bangladesh.

"Until toxic ships-for-scrap are recognised as hazardous waste trade by all world governments and international regulations with a strong liablity regime are enforced, people's lives and the environment will be endangered as a matter of routine," said Greenpeace campaigner, Marietta Harjono. Greenpeace is not against scrapping of vessels but wants to ensure that their export is not used as an excuse to dump toxic waste but demands that they are decontaminated before being exported.

[1] Greenpeace had intercepted the "Sea Beirut" as it neared Turkey in May 2002 because it was concerned that France was attempting to illegally dump hazardous waste in Turkey. The environmental organisation had alerted the Turkish authorities that the ship contained asbestos and had warned that lives and the environment would be endangered if it were scrapped. The ex-Turkish Minister of Environment, Fevzi Aytekin, had declared that the vessel must not be scrapped in Turkey and demanded that it be sent back to France. Yet France has failed to respond to Turkey's demands and the vessel has been beached at Aliaga, Turkey's notorious ship breaking yards, ever since.