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Breakthrough! Basel Convention recognises end-of-life-ships as waste

7 november l 2003 - An important breakthrough was reached during the latest Basel Convention: end-of-life ships are finally considered as waste. Greenpeace welcomes this decision as a major step towards solving the environmental and social problems on the breaking of ships.

The so called Open Ended Working Group of the Basel Convention (OEWG 2) decided on Friday 24th October 2003 that the Convention also applies to the export of end-of-life-vessels for breaking. After discussions on this legal matter last week the conclusion reached was "that a ship may become waste in accordance with article 2 of the Basel Convention and that at the same time it may be defined as a ship under other international rules". This decision came after a week of negotiation in Geneva.

At the conference in Geneva, Greenpeace presented a "Symbol of Shame" to each delegation. These small ship shaped pieces of metal from the scrapship Amina (see image on left) recalled the lack of clarity so far given to this issue by the Basel Convention. The Greek owned Amina exploded in the shipbreakingyard February this year, killing 9 people and causing over a dozen serious injuries.

By giving these symbols, Greenpeace successfully urged each delegation to clarify that ships for scrap fall under the Basel Convention without a doubt. At the meeting in Geneva further outstanding questions were identified to improve the understanding of the legal issues involved in this recognition.

Read more on the Basel Convention