{"id":12204,"date":"2020-09-14T13:50:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T13:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/?p=12204"},"modified":"2021-12-01T12:42:07","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T12:42:07","slug":"sinking-of-the-mv-wakashio-wreck-letter-to-malta-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/publications\/12204\/sinking-of-the-mv-wakashio-wreck-letter-to-malta-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Sinking of the MV Wakashio wreck &#8211; letter to Malta"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Prof. Victor Axiak<br>Chairperson<br>Environment &amp; Resources Authority of Malta<br>Republic of Malta<\/p>\n\n<p>Ms. Carmen Buttigieg<br>Deputy Chairperson<br>Environment &amp; Resources Authority of Malta<br>Republic of Malta<\/p>\n\n<p>Cc Hon. Evarist Bartolo<br>Minister for European &amp; Foreign Affairs<br>Republic of Malta<\/p>\n\n<p>Cc Hon. Aaron Farrugia<br>Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning&nbsp;<br>Republic of Malta<br><\/p>\n\n<p>Cc Hon. Kavydass Ramano<br>Minister of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change<br>Republic of Mauritius<\/p>\n\n<p>Cc Hon. Sudheer Maudhoo<br>Minister of Blue Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping<br>Republic of Mauritius&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>Cc. Hon. Shinjiro Koizumi&nbsp;<br>Minister of the Environment,&nbsp;<br>Japan<\/p>\n\n<p>Cc Mr. Fredrik Haag<br>Head of Office for London Convention\/Protocol &amp; Ocean Affairs, Marine Environment Division,<br>International Maritime Organisation<br>London, United Kingdom<br><\/p>\n\n<p>Cc Mr. Dixon. G. Waruinge<br>Coordinator, Nairobi Convention Secretariat<br>United Nations Environment Programme<br>Nairobi, Kenya<\/p>\n\n<p>Cc. Ms. Magali de Torrijos<br>President &amp; CEO<br>Panama Maritime Authority<br>Republic of Panama<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">Johannesburg, 14 September 2020<\/p>\n\n<p>Dear Professor Axiak and Ms Buttigieg,&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>Following the grounding of the MV Wakashio off the coast of Malta and the subsequent dumping of the forward cargo section of the ship 35 miles off the coast of Mauritius, on August 24 2020 we wrote to you, as the Flag State responsible for the tugs that undertook the dumping.&nbsp; You have not yet replied to our letter which raised serious questions about this operation, specifically:<\/p>\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Was the Government of Malta consulted on the planned towing and sinking of the MV Wakashio wreck?&nbsp;<\/li><li>Did you approve the operation and the participation of Maltese vessels?<\/li><li>If approval was given, was a (special) permit issued ahead of time, permitting the Maltese vessels to participate in this operation?&nbsp;<ul><li>If a permit was issued, what steps were taken ahead of the issuance of the permit, to comply with the London Convention 1972?<\/li><li>If no permit was issued, on what grounds was a permit considered unnecessary?<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>If no approval was given, what action will the Government of Malta take to give effect to its duty under Article VII.2 of the London Convention 1972 to &#8220;prevent and punish conduct in contravention of the provisions of this Convention&#8221;?<\/li><\/ol>\n\n<p>In addition, we request that you clarify when the Republic of Malta intends to make a formal report on the dumping of the vessel to the Office for the London Convention, as is required.<\/p>\n\n<p>The MV Wakashio was towed to its planned sinking place by several ships &#8211; among them two Maltese-flagged vessels, the Boka Summit and the Boka Expedition. <strong>As a party to the London Convention (1972), the Republic of Malta is required to prohibit and prevent its vessels from dumping waste including vessels at sea,<\/strong> except under the limited conditions recognised in the Convention.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/publications\/12002\/sinking-of-the-mv-wakashio-wreck-letter-to-malta\/\">A copy of our original letter<\/a> is attached. We would appreciate a response from you by 18 September 2020.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large  caption-style-medium caption-alignment-center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"320\" height=\"214\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2020\/08\/7089b965-lagisignaturenobg.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11939\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2020\/08\/7089b965-lagisignaturenobg.png 320w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2020\/08\/7089b965-lagisignaturenobg-300x201.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><figcaption>Greenpeace Africa Interim Executive Director<br>&nbsp;Lagi Toribau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized  caption-style-medium caption-alignment-center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2020\/08\/cb325b0d-screenshot-2020-08-14-at-08.56.58.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11963\" width=\"383\" height=\"121\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2020\/08\/cb325b0d-screenshot-2020-08-14-at-08.56.58.png 622w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2020\/08\/cb325b0d-screenshot-2020-08-14-at-08.56.58-300x95.png 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2020\/08\/cb325b0d-screenshot-2020-08-14-at-08.56.58-510x161.png 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 383px) 100vw, 383px\" \/><figcaption>DIS MOI Chairperson<br>Roshan Rajroop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large  caption-style-medium caption-alignment-center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"389\" height=\"177\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2020\/08\/0175efa2-samsignaturenobg.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11935\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2020\/08\/0175efa2-samsignaturenobg.png 389w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2020\/08\/0175efa2-samsignaturenobg-300x137.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 389px) 100vw, 389px\" \/><figcaption>Greenpeace Japan Executive Director<br>Sam Annesley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t\t<section\n\t\t\tclass=\"boxout post-3981 \"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-action=\"Image\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"cover-card-overlay\"\n\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/act\/protect-the-oceans\/\" \n\t\t\t><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2020\/02\/8ed823c5-gp0stu60a-1024x641.jpg\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsrcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2020\/02\/8ed823c5-gp0stu60a-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2020\/02\/8ed823c5-gp0stu60a-1024x641.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2020\/02\/8ed823c5-gp0stu60a-768x481.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2020\/02\/8ed823c5-gp0stu60a-510x319.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2020\/02\/8ed823c5-gp0stu60a.jpg 1200w\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 358px, (min-width: 780px) 313px, 88px\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\talt=\"Marine Wildlife at Vema Seamount. \u00a9 Richard Barnden \/ Greenpeace\" title=\"Marine Wildlife at Vema Seamount. \u00a9 Richard Barnden \/ Greenpeace\"\n\t\t\t\t\/>\n            \t\t\t<div class=\"boxout-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"boxout-heading medium\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-action=\"Title\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/act\/protect-the-oceans\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tProtect the Oceans\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t                                    <a\n                        class=\"btn btn-primary\"\n                        data-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n                        data-ga-action=\"Call to Action\"\n                        data-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n                        href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/act\/protect-the-oceans\/\"\n                        \n                    >\n                        Get Involved\n                    <\/a>\n                \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following the grounding of the MV Wakashio off the coast of Malta and the subsequent dumping of the forward cargo section of the ship 35 miles off the coast of Mauritius, on August 24 2020 we wrote to you, as the Flag State responsible for the tugs that undertook the dumping. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":11865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[102,33],"tags":[40,46],"p4-page-type":[45],"class_list":["post-12204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issues","category-protecttheenvironment","tag-conservation","tag-greenpeaceafrica","p4-page-type-publications"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12204"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49960,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12204\/revisions\/49960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12204"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=12204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}