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The shipping industry is responsible for its own vessels. They should take immediate measures to prevent pollution of the environment and protect the workers that dismantle their ships. They can do that by decontaminating and degassing their ship-for-scrap before export to Asia.
Clean ships
Shipowners should also gradually make their vessels still in operation cleaner. During maintenance and survey stops, hazardous materials should be replaced with clean alternatives. A list of hazardous materials found on board of ships can be downloaded from www.marisec.org In addition, shipowners should, together with shipbuilders and classification societies, commit to the development of clean ships to avoid future disposal problems. Greenpeace calls upon shipowners to sign a statement on this subject.
IMO
International treaties can help protect the environment and the workers' health. The International Maritime Organisations (IMO) is the United Nations body that regulates the shipping industry. Established to improve the safety at sea and prevent marine pollution. In March 2002 it started to debate its role in shipbreaking.
Basel and EU
The Basel Convention, under the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) regulates the international trade in hazardous waste. It recently accepted guidelines on environmentally sound management of full and partial dismantling of ships. The European Waste Shipment Regulation (EWSR) regulates the export of waste within, into and out of the EU.
International legislation
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) will work on improving working conditions at shipbreaking yards in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and China. The three UN bodies IMO, UNEP and ILO should together act against dirty and unhealthy shipbreaking. IMO has to take the lead. It must develop international legislation on ships-for-scrap. Then the shipping industry can be obliged to take full responsibility for their vessels. Without an obligation shipowners will keep sending toxic ships to the poorest and least restricted countries.
