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.
Solution
Two years later, on 8 November 2004, the Sandrien finally met its end.
In the port of Amsterdam, the scrapping of the chemical tanker.has started.
The Dutch ministries responsible for environment and transport together
with the city of Amsterdam commissioned the scrapping of the tanker.
Remarkable ships Pacific Princess ('Love Boat') is on the Greenpeace list. More remarkable ships...
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