News

French toxic ship to be sent back following court decision

Istanbul, November 14th, 2002 - The French toxic ship "Sea Beirut", that attempted to enter Turkey illegally for scrap because it contained toxic waste, is to be sent back to France after a court decision. The court ordered CEMSAN, the importing company in this illicit enterprise, to ensure that the ship should be returned to France, the country of origin. Based on this new court decision in Turkey, the French government must take back the "Sea Beirut" and clean it of all the hazardous materials before re-exporting it for scrap.

Last May, Greenpeace intercepted the "Sea Beirut" as it neared Aliaga shipbreaking yards in Turkey because it was concerned that the ship contained hazardous waste, such as asbestos. Greenpeace alerted the Turkish authorities and warned that this was a case of illegal waste trade as defined by Turkish legislation. This led to its return for cleaning to France, the country of origin, after the Turkish Ministry of Environment conducted its own investigations that confirmed the ship contains hazardous wastes as Greenpeace suspected.

"This case confirms that the national bans restricting the importation of such hazardous waste into shipbreaking countries are not being observed. In order to protect themselves, shipbreaking countries must systematically demand an inventory of all hazardous substances on board all ships for scrap before the ships are exported. They must ensure that these ships are cleaned before they are exported to Turkey or Asian shipbreaking yards," said Erdem Vardar, Greenpeace Toxic Waste Trade Campaigner in Turkey.

Based on this new court decision in Turkey, the French government must take back the "Sea Beirut" and clean it of all the hazardous materials before re-exporting it for scrap. "Until now, the French government has been refusing to take the toxic ship back and as a consequence the ship has been beached at the Aliaga shipbreaking yards ever since," said Yannick Vicaire, Greenpeace Toxics Campaigner in France. CEMSAN had asked the court to suspend the Turkish Ministerial decision of May 2002 but the Turkish administrative court now rejected this request.

This case illustrates the urgent need for the new international ship recycling regulations which are on the agenda of several United Nations institutions such as the Basel Convention. The shipping industry refuses to accept the Basel Convention regime for their 'End of Life Vessels' for purely financial reasons.

Greenpeace is calling on all Parties that will attend the Basel Convention Conference of the Parties (COP6) meeting in Geneva in a few weeks (9-12 December) to agree on a final clarification of the legal status of toxic ships for scrap. Through that clarification, the shipping industry and some Parties should no longer be able to use Turkey and other Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and China as their dumping ground for toxic materials such as asbestos, PCBs and organotins that are in their End of Life Vessels.

"The International community should give a clear signal that the export of toxic ships for scrap must be recognised by all world governments as a form of hazardous waste trade under the Basel Convention. All world governments should agree that new strong international ship recycling regulations with a strong liability regime must be enforced in order to close the loopholes of the Basel Convention", Vardar concluded.