The Sandrien is the first ship-for-scrap that was recognised by a Dutch court as hazardous waste. In August 2000 the ship arrived in Amsterdam. It never left the harbour ever since.
Detained
The Sandrien is a chemical tanker built in 1974. Shortly after it arrived Amsterdam the ship was detained by the port authorities. It's technical state turned out to be very bad. Inspections showed it had serious corrosion and might not be watertight.
Asbestos
The vessel was only allowed to leave Amsterdam after undergoing fundamental repairs. Also it had to sail directly to its final destination, in favourable weather conditions and without carrying cargo. But the shipping inspectors became suspicious: the Sandrien was an End of Life Vessel. They informed the environmental inspectors. The Sandrien contained asbestos, heavy metals and other toxic materials. So the owners - i.e. the producers of this waste - should apply for an export license for waste.
Detained again
In February 2001 the Dutch Environmental Inspectorate arrested the Sandrien.
The grounds: there was a scrap contract and the Sandrien was bound for Asia.
There had been no 'notification about the transboundary movement of waste
to the competent authorities'. And the presence of hazardous materials on
board had been proven, including asbestos. The export to Asia of a ship
'not properly emptied' would violate the European Waste Shipment
Regulation (EWSR). The Sandrien was obviously a ship-for-scrap:
an 'End of Life Vessel'.
Highest Court
After several court procedures the Council
of State in the Netherlands ruled in June 2002 that an End of Life Vessel
not properly emptied of hazardous materials should be classified as hazardous
waste. It was the first ever legal recognition that a ship containing asbestos
must be treated as hazardous waste. The Sandrien was not allowed to leave
for India to be scrapped, unless it would be properly emptied of all hazardous
materials.
Illusive owners
When the Sandrien first arrived in Amsterdam it was owned by Panship. That is the same Italian shipping company that owned the Erica. This oil tanker sank in front of the French coast in 1999. During detention the Sandrien was sold to the letterbox company Upperton Ltd. in Mauritius. In shipbreaking circles this company is well known as Captain Isaac Isaac: an 'intermediate' shipping company involved in the trading of old ships. Greenpeace made several attempts to get in touch with the different shipowners. But they are rather illusive and only communicated through lawyers.
Crew abused
The new owners treated the original Indian crew very badly. The crewmembers weren't even paid. Finally they were sent home after the intervention of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF). But the owners ordered a new - mislead - crew to come to the ship. Again the approximately twenty Indian crewmembers stayed onboard in desperate circumstances. Only after the Council of State decision in June 2002 a solution was found. The new crew was repatriated to India by the ITF and the Dutch government.
Abandoned ship
It is still unclear who is going to pay for the clean demolition of the Sandrien. The asbestos clean up seems to be very costly. The owners washed their hands of the ship. After more than two years it still lies in the Amsterdam harbour.
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