News

Horror strikes again in Alang
Ship-breaking continues to kill workers

5th april 2003 - Again one person got killed as a result of a ship-breaking explosion in Alang, India. Six others got injured. Saturday's explosion on Apteram, a Maltese owned ship (oil tanker), happened when workers were trying to cut an oil-refilling tank from the engine room - still filled with oil. Workers told that it was the last part of the ship to be scrapped. Only 6 weeks after the previous accident, horror strikes again.

This confirms that the gas-free for hot works rule has been flouted once again at the cost of a human life. Fires and fatalities are commonplace at shipbreaking yards where workers' safety is jeopardized by a lack of even the most basic precautions; when they're dealing with highly toxic wastes hidden inside dying ships; and when they often come face to face with unexpectedly volatile substances.

Under the rules of the Basel Convention and Indian law [1] all vessels should be decontaminated and be made gas free for hot works before import to the country. But Apteram concealed a large quantity of oil inside her which caused the explosion while workers were cutting the steel with torchcutters.

Greenpeace is demanding:

1. That all ships brought to the Asian shipbreaking yards be thoroughly decontaminated and be made gas-free for hot works and man entry before arrival.
2. That the International Maritime Organisation develops a strong and mandatory framework to make sure that the same rule applies to all ships and that shipowners are held accountable and liable for their End of Life Vessels and any hazardous materials they contain.
3. That the Basel Convention be strictly adhered to and transboundary movement and disposal of hazardous wastes be regulated as per international law.

[1] According to the Basel Convention (which India ratified on 24th June 1991) and to national Indian law (Gujarat Government Gazette: No GMB/T/Alang/106/110/2000/1 August 2000) all ships must be thoroughly decontaminated and be free of dangerous gas, toxic or any other hazardous chemical/waste before they are allowed into ship-breaking yards.