03 June 2011

GMB issues notice to ship suspected to contain toxic materials:


Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) has issued a notice to the agent of the vessel `Gulf Safwa', which is being brought for dismantling at Alang Shipbreaking Yard near here.

The ship, suspected to be carrying some toxic materials and residues, had earlier been asked not to proceed.

Gulf Safwa's agent, J M Baxi, had been issued a notice to submit the necessary documents, GMB officials said today, adding that the ship had been stopped near the Gopnath anchorage point.

According to the GMB officials, the ship was stopped as its name is similar to the ship, 'Gulf Jash', which is reportedly laden with toxic materials and heading for Alang.

Hence, the ship had been stopped on the basis of suspicion, and would be throughly examined by the customs and Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) for any toxic substances and legality of documents, they said.

The GMB had earlier alerted officials at its ports following reports quoting a global group of activists -- Shipbreaking Platform -- that a toxic material-laden ship, 'Probo Koala', built in 1989 and now renamed 'Gulf Jash', was coming to Gujarat.

Reports said the ship contained several tonnes of hazardous substances such as asbestos, PCBs, toxic paints, fuel and chemical residues, etc, which had not been cleaned up.

Union Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, had sought a report from the Gujarat government after the reports, but the government earlier said that no such ship was coming to Alang as per its information.

Source: Deccan Herald. 3 June 2011
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/166124/gmb-issues-notice-ship-suspected.html


Gulf Safwa (IMO: 8315401)

Type of ship:Cargo Ship
IMO Number:8315401Flag: Marshall Islands
MMSI Number:538001580Length:184.0m
Callsign:V7CY7Beam:32.0m
* The Data for the ship GULF SAFWA are received via AIS (Automatic Identification System). vesseltracker.com does not guarantee the accuracy of the data.



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