News

British Government guilty of hypocrisy over toxic ships - Royal Naval vessel HMS Intrepid to be scrapped with no environmental safeguards

London, 14th november 2003 - The British Government was condemned today for operating a double standard over the breaking of naval ships in Britain. The Government and Environment Agency acted quickly to stop the breaking of the so-called 'ghost ships' from the US while simultaneously exporting old Royal Naval vessels abroad to be broken under appalling conditions.

Currently HMS Intrepid (1) - an amphibious landing vessel - is berthed at Portsmouth awaiting export to an overseas breakers yard, believed to be in Turkey (2). HMS Intrepid contains 40 tonnes of asbestos as well as PCBs, lead and heavy fuel oil (3).

If the Royal Navy ship is exported to any of the major shipbreaking countries it will break international law. 'The Basle Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal' bans the export of hazardous wastes from OECD to non-OECD countries.

If exported to Turkey, the one OECD shipbreaking country, the ship will contravene Turkish national law. In 1995 Turkey passed the 'Regulation to Control Hazardous Wastes' (287.08.1995 NO. 22387) which banned the importation of all types of hazardous wastes and means that ships for scrap containing hazardous wastes like asbestos and PCB's are not allowed to cross the Turkish border.

Two other Royal Naval vessels - the 'Olwen' and the 'Olna' (4) - which were sold to German shipbreaking company Eckhardt in 2000 ended up being broken on the beaches of the notorious scrap yards at Alang in India. This was after the ships were rejected by the Turkish government because of the levels of toxic material onboard. Environmental safeguards are non-existent in Alang and there is almost no safety equipment for a workforce that includes children.

Eckhardt exported the ships despite having signed tender documents which clearly state 'these vessels have been classed as hazardous/amber list as they contain quantities of hazardous materials such as asbestos. Hazardous waste can only be exported to countries to which the OECD decision applies'. The document also states that the toxic materials in the ship pose 'serious health hazards'. Commenting on the situation, Blake Lee-Harwood, Campaigns Director for Greenpeace in the UK, said:

"The Government and Environment Agency are behaving like complete hypocrites - taking urgent action to stop foreign ships being broken in the UK while simultaneously allowing the Ministry of Defence to export contaminated ships to countries with much lower environmental standards."

"Britain should look after its own toxic ships or clean them up and export them as uncontaminated scrap. It's completely unacceptable that Royal Naval ships end up being broken by barefoot children with lump hammers in the Third World rather than dismantled using state of the art technology."

Greenpeace UK has written to Geoff Hoon, Secretary of State for Defence, and Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State for the Environment, asking why Royal Naval vessels are being scrapped under such appalling conditions. Greenpeace is also seeking an assurance that in future all Royal Naval vessels will be scrapped in state of the art facilities in the UK or completely decontaminated and exported as clean scrap.

Notes

1) HMS "Intrepid" is an amphibious landing vessel, built in 1967 by John Brown & Co. (Clydebank) Ltd. Along with HMS Fearless, Intrepid continued to be used throughout the 1980's, including service in the Falklands War, and through to the late 1990's. The vessel is currently berthed at HMNB Portsmouth awaiting sale. According to information leaked to Greenpeace a 2001 British Navy inventory of asbestos on the HMS "Intrepid" reportedly found asbestos throughout the vessel, including asbestos insulation on pipework throughout the ship and the insulation on the 2 funnels. Further finds were in starter boxes, flange gaskets, deck-head lighting, electrical heaters and fire curtains.
2) The DSA. (Disposal Service Agency) is part of the British Ministry of Defence and organises all the sales of navy vessels to be scrapped. According to information leaked to Greenpeace the DSA is in negotiations to sell the HMS Intrepid on to a Turkish ship breaker "AGS" in Aliaga.
3) Source for statistics: Ministry of Defence. Note the Ministry of Defence has stated to media that they have no intention of cleaning the vessel before sale.
4) Before being taken out of service the Olwen and Olna were the two oldest and largest fast fleet tankers in the Royal Fleet Auxiliaries (RFA) flotilla, having entered RFA service in 1965 and 1966 respectively. Known as O class fuel replenishment ships, They were used for refuelling and re-supplying navy ships at sea. They last put to sea in July 1999 and November 1999 respectively. They were replaced by two new large fleet tanker ships RFA Wave Knight and FRA Wave Ruler, built by BAE Systems for the United Kingdom Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Wave Knight was commissioned in March 2003 and Wave Ruler in April 2003.
The Olwen and Olna were bought by a German company called Eckhardt (a broker which is specialised in the illegal export of scrap vessels to the Far East). The ships left the port of Portsmouth in the UK in February 2001 and were sold by Eckhardt to a Turkish scrap yard. The Turkish Ministry of Environment prohibited the import of the ships. Eckhardt then towed the ships to a Greek port, renamed them 'Kea' and 'Kos' and moved them through the Suez Canal to Alang in India where they arrived in July 2001.

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