In 2002 the Belgian government was the first to implement that a ship-for-scrap - the Silver Ray - should be decontaminated prior to export. The shipowners refused and sold the ship. Until now the Silver Ray stays in the Antwerp harbour.
Fire accident
In May 2002 the Silver Ray suffered a heavy fire accident. The RoRo ship was declared Construction Total Loss (CTL) and had to stay in Antwerp. Greenpeace informed the Belgian authorities about the intention of the Greek owner Stamco Shipping. This shipping company wanted to sell the ship to be scrapped in an Asian country.
Scrap Opera Greenpeace visited the Silver Ray on 3 October 2002 during
one of her Toxic Patrols. Samples of the ship were taken: asbestos was found
on board. Greenpeace projected the film 'Scrap Opera' on the Silver Ray's
hull. It shows the working conditions on an Asian shipbreaking yard and
the environmental consequences of scrapping. Greenpeace occupied the Silver
Ray for six days and marked it with a special scrap logo.
Hazardous waste
The Belgian Minister of Environment Vera Dua stated on 9
October she would 'do everything possible to make sure the vessel is not
exported for scrap to Asia without being cleaned first'. The international
rules on the export of waste were to be applied to the Silver Ray. In a
letter Dua 'considers the ship 'is' hazardous waste as long as it is not
properly emptied of any cargo and other materials that can be classified
as hazardous'.
Sold and renamed
The Greek owner reacted by selling the ship to a Panamese owner. The vessel was renamed Naxos 1. The (hidden) owner declared through his superintendent the ship was to be repaired. So the Belgian minister forced him to first clean the ship from its toxic cargo: 2400 end-of-life vehicles damaged by the fire accident. Greenpeace Toxic Patrols exposed that this cargo decontamination happened in an irregular and illegal way. The process was stopped several times. The superintendent and the captain were forced to do it in a proper way. But after that the owner still refused to decontaminate the ship itself.
Court case
The Belgian Minister then went to court. She was put in right in February
2003. The court decided the Silver Ray (now Naxos 1) was hazardous waste.
The Basel Regime Protocol should be followed. The
vessel cannot leave Antwerp without being decontaminated first. The owner
doesn't recognise the competence of the Belgian authorities. So the ship
still lies in the Antwerp harbour.
Remarkable ships Pacific Princess ('Love Boat') is on the Greenpeace list. More remarkable ships...
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