The call for regulation came as Greenpeace and a delegation of
three people from India and Bangaldesh involved with shipbreaking
yards in India and Bangladesh (1) rang twenty ship bells in front
of the company's headquarters in Geneva, taken from toxic ships
from around the world that have recently been scrapped in Asia. The
noisy protest was staged to remind MSC and other shipping companies
of the impact their toxic ships have on people and the
environmental. Only three weeks ago, on May 19th, seven people died
at the Alang shipbreaking yard in India because a contaminated ship
exploded while it was being scrapped. On 22nd March, a further 10
people died when the Greek oil tanker 'Amina' caught fire while
being scrapped because it had not been emptied of oil and gas
residues prior to arrival at the scrapyard.
"The problems at shipbreaking yards are huge," said Mr Salim a
shipbreaker from the Chittagong yard in Bangladesh, speaking from
Geneva. "Waste materials from the ships mixes with mud and water
and pollutes the environment. Asbestos from the ships enters the
body of the workers and causes lung cancer and other deadly
diseases. MSC's call for regulation today is encouraging but, until
we get a full commitment from the company that it will clean its
entire fleet before exporting it for scrap, we'll continue to do
all we can to remind the company that of its responsibilities for
human lives in Asia," he added.
Since 1999, the Swiss-owned company has sent 22 ships to
breaking yards in India or Bangladesh. These ships contained
hazardous substances like asbestos, PCB oil, heavy metals, heavy
oil and potential explosives. When they were scrapped, these
substances entered the environment causing severe environmental
pollution and workers exposed to the substances face a risk of
disease or accidents. MSC owns around 200 ships, some of which will
be scrapped in the near future.
"The lives of over 10,000 workers in Asia are at risk," said
Ramapati Kumar from Greenpeace in India. "Greenpeace has documented
hundreds of cases in which industrialised countries have either
traded or transferred toxic waste problems to developing countries
such as India and Bangladesh. We welcome MSC's words today but the
environment and workers lives will not be saved until this dirty
export stops. International, mandatory regulations must be enforced
immediately," he concluded.
The Basel Convention forbids the export of hazardous substances
from richer to poorer countries (OECD to non-OECD). However,
Greenpeace recently exposed that various loopholes in the treaty
are being used by the shipping industry (2) to enable it to evade
responsibility for this particular form of toxic dumping. Research
by Greenpeace has shown that companies, such as MSC, profit
extensively from the current practice of shipbreaking. They earn an
average of 2 million dollars per ship that is sent it to be
scrapped at breaking yards in SouthEast Asia yet still fail to pay
for the vessels to be cleaned.
The delegation from the Asian shipbreaking yards is scheduled to
meet with Swiss authorities tomorrow. They will continue to press
the need for a truly mandatory regime from the International
Maritime Organisation to prevent the ongoing tragedies at the
shipbreaking yards.
Notes: Interviews with the delegation involved with Asian shipbreaking yards are available on request. (1) Today's protest by Greenpeace and people from Asian shipbreaking countries is part of a European tour to call on the shipping industry to take responsibility for their vessels and to clean them of dangerous substances prior to export for scrap. The delegation has already met with shipping companies and politicians in The Netherlands and Greece who supported the need for an international mandatory regime and agreed that the current rules are not good enough to stop environmental pollution and health damage. The tour will take the delegation to London, Luxembourg and Belgium and to European authorities. It is scheduled to finish on June 21. (2) see www.greenpeace.org/shipgame