MUMBAI, India — “Welcome back, Rainbow Warrior!” Colourful placards, a brass band and an enthusiastic group of supporters welcomed the Greenpeace Ship Rainbow Warrior, which was allowed to dock at Mumbai early this morning after 7 days of waiting for Indian Customs authorities to grant it clearance. 26 crew members, belonging to 14 different countries, had been stranded at sea with dwindling food and water supplies. However, in another unexpected twist late this evening, the Immigration Authorities denied permission for the crew to disembark from the ship, despite Greenpeace having completed all the required formalities, including the payment of penalties for alleged violations.
"If we had not received clearance to dock today, this would have
turned into an international diplomatic issue. Greenpeace enjoys
the support of over 4 million people worldwide, 10,000 of them from
within india, and an international crew being stranded like this
would have sparked a major controversy," said Shailendra Yashwant,
Campaigns Director of Greenpeace India, "But the fact that the
Rainbow Warrior has been subjected to this kind of treatment in
India,
serves as an indication of the success of our Corporate
Accountability tour. We've issued a strong challenge to the
shipping industry, reminding them of their liabilities in
ship-breaking yards all over the world. They have responded by
exerting pressure on related authorities, and have tried to stop us
from continuing our work. When they start to fight us, we know
we've made a difference!"
Greenpeace has been monitoring ship-breaking practices and
conducting research at ship-breaking yards for several years, and
called on the recently-concluded meeting of the International
Maritime Organization (IMO) to establish a mandatory regime to
compel ship-owners to decontaminate their ships before sending them
for scrapping. The demand was taken up by the delegations from
India and Turkey, although they were eventually stonewalled by
powerful
interests at the IMO. Although the guidelines have been adopted,
they are only voluntary, so the shipping industry can continue to
avoid proper regulation and export toxic ships for scrap.
"It's been a time of victories and setbacks, both for the crew
of the Rainbow Warrior, and for the ship-breaking campaign. For
instance, it's a big step forward for us that the Indian delegation
at the IMO took a strong position and demanded a mandatory regime.
Unfortunately, this call was blocked by countries like Panama and
Liberia that protect the interests of the shipping industry, as
Greenpeace has documented in its report Playing hide and seek,"
said Ramapati Kumar, Greenpeace campaigner who had been on board
the Rainbow Warrior, "We're just happy to be in Mumbai for now, and
will be focussing on the next phase of the Corporate Accountability
tour."
The crew of the Rainbow Warrior now faces the challenge of
trying to accommodate nine days of scheduled activities in the next
two days before the ship leaves for Cochin on the 9th of
December.
Journalists are invited to a media briefing, which will be held
on board the Rainbow Warrior at 11.00 am on Monday 8 December 2003.
The Rainbow Warrior is docked at Berth no. 3, Ferry Wharf, Off P
D'Mello Road, Dockyard Station, Mumbai.
For more details contact : Namrata Chowdhary, Media Officer,
Greenpeace India
- Tel - 022 31520697/ (0)9810850092
- email- 