West Coast Mothball Fleet Shrinking Soon:

It appears that the old MARAD mothball fleet otherwise known as the Suisun Bay Ghost Fleet near Benicia California may soon be drastically shrinking, with many old warships and auxiliary vessels heading to scrappers in Texas. Many of the ships in the mothball fleet have significant historical value, including several Victory ships and the battleship USS Iowa. Nevertheless, most bay area and California state politicians want the ships out of Suisun Bay sooner rather than later. 

The San Francisco Chronicle brings us the whole story:

A fleet of old, rotting warships shedding toxic paint into the water near San Francisco Bay will be cleaned up and recycled under a new plan announced by federal officials Thursday.

Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Porcari said the government has already awarded contracts to dispose of two World War II-era cargo ships from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet.

The group of more than 70 mostly obsolete vessels in Suisun Bay has been at the center of a nearly three-year deadlock between state water regulators and the federal government, which manages the fleet.

Porcari said the ships will be cleaned in dry-dock — not in the bay — alleviating state officials’ concerns about additional water pollution.

“This is definitely big,” said Bruce Wolfe, executive officer of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. “This is the start.”

A congressional order set a 2006 deadline to scrap more than 50 ships in the fleet, but a regulatory quagmire has kept them in place.

A lack of disposal operations on the West Coast means the ships must be towed to Texas to be broken apart. Under federal law, the ships must be cleaned of invasive species clinging to their hulls before they can enter the ocean.

California officials fought a Bush administration plan to clean the ships where they were anchored, arguing that the process would cause paint laden with heavy metals to flake off into the bay. They also filed suit against the federal government claiming the paint flaking off the ships as they idle put the fleet in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.

Putting the ships in dry-dock in San Francisco lifts worries about the cleanup causing further pollution, Wolfe said. But he said the state would continue to press its suit until a settlement or court order puts legal force behind the government’s commitment to get rid of all ships awaiting disposal.

Environmentalists have long criticized the U.S. Maritime Administration for the delays in removing the ships. They said the government must act aggressively to get rid of the rest.

“MARAD has not yet committed to a concrete and enforceable timetable for cleaning and removing the remaining ships,” said Michael Wall, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Of the 57 ships slated for the scrap heap, Porcari said the 25 most decrepit vessels would be disposed first. The process would take several years owing to the limited space in dry-dock facilities, he said.

Aerial shot of the Suisun Bay Mothball Fleet (Telstar Logistics/Flickr)

When steel prices were high, recyclers would pay for the rights to dispose of the ships in exchange for the steel they contain. In today’s economy, the government is paying more than $2 million to a Brownsville, Texas, company to dismantle them.

The dry-docking will cost the government another $500,000 per ship.

“It is worth it in environmental terms to do it the right way,” Porcari said.

The country’s three major reserve fleets, including one in Beaumont, Texas, and another near Newport News, Va., were once maintained to return to active duty in case of war or disaster. Over time, many ships fell into disrepair and became a financial and environmental burden.

In Suisun Bay, the aging hulks tied together in rows have become a landmark visible from a heavily traveled commuter bridge. They are known together as the “ghost fleet” or the “mothball fleet.”

The first two ships slated for dry-docking in coming months are the Earlham Victory and the Pan American Victory, built in nearby Richmond in 1945. The Victory ships mainly transported cargo and troops during World War II.

Talks are under way with a nonprofit group to turn the fleet’s best known member, the battleship USS Iowa, into a museum, Porcari said.

Source: The Maritime Blog. 22 October 2009

http://themaritimeblog.com/1327/west-coast-mothball-fleet-shrinking-soon

Bangladesh shipbreaking: 1 more dies in accident

One more worker of a shipbreaking yard died as an iron plate fell on him at Bhatiari in Sitakunda yesterday afternoon.

The deceased Jahangir Alam, 28, son of Md Aziz Miah of Laxmanpur at Badarganj in Rangpur, was a worker of Habib Steel Ship Breaking Yard.

Police said the accident occurred around 12:30pm when Jahangir was resting beside an iron plate kept against a wall, which fell on him leaving the man seriously injured.

Jahangir was rushed to the Chittagong Medical College Hospital around 2:00pm where the doctors declared him dead.

Officer-in-charge of Sitakunda Police Station Md Nazrul Islam confirmed the incident and said police were sent to the spot.

With yesterday's death, seven workers met tragic death at three shipbreaking yards in Sitakunda since Thursday [October 8].

Meanwhile, the death toll of shipbreaking workers rose to 16 in the last ten months.

Source: The Daily Star. 15 October 2009.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=109823 

3 shipbreaking workers killed at Sitakunda :

Chittagong, Oct 13: Three workers of a shipbreaking yard were killed in a cylinder blast at Sitakunda shipbreaking yard today.

Sitakunda police said, a gas cylinder suddenly blasted off with a shuddering noise, killing 2 workers on the spot and severely wounding another at about 11:00 am in the Pakija Ship Breaking Yard at Baroawlia of Sitakunda.

Those died on the spot were Emran Hossain (25) and Mamun (17). The critically injured worker Nasir died under treatment at a local clinic in the afternoon.

Source: The Financial Express. 14 October 2009

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?page=detail_news&news_id=81578&date=2009-10-14

Three killed at Chittagong shipbreaking yard:

Chittagong, Oct 8: Three workers were killed due to fall of a heavy steel-plate on them while working at Crystal Ship Breaking Yard at Shitalpur under Sitakunda in Chittagong Thursday.

The victims are Nasir (28) and Nahid (24) of Anwara, Chittagong, and Hazrat Ali (25) of Narsingdi.

Sitakunda police said the workers were crushed under the heavy plate at 10 am, and died on the spot. Police recovered the bodies and sent them to the morgue of Chittagong Medical College Hospital.

Source: The Financial Express. 9 October 2009

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?page=detail_news&news_id=81120&date=2009-10-09

Obama's EPA Allows Toxic Navy Ships to Be Dumped In Bangladesh:

Ships Likely to be Scrapped on Beach by Unprotected Workers in Violation of Law

BAN Media Release

               

27 August 2009 (Norfolk, Virginia.) – Last night, the ship ANDERS (former M/V PVT. JAMES ANDERSON, JR), sailed out of Norfolk, Virginia with the likely destination being the infamous shipbreaking beaches of Bangladesh.[1] According to the Environmental watchdog group Basel Action Network (BAN), the export marks the first time the U.S. government has allowed a U.S. flagged ship in the service of the government to be sent to South Asian beaches since the Clinton Administration called for a moratorium on such exports in 1998.[2] The moratorium followed a Pulitzer Prize winning expose published by the Baltimore Sun[3] highlighting the inhumane and environmentally devastating conditions in the South Asian shipbreaking yards.

PVT. ANDERSON

The ANDERS and her sister ship BONNY (M/V 1ST LT. ALEX BONNYMAN) which is expected to likewise sail later today, were allowed to be sold, re-flagged and exported by the U.S. Maritime Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) despite the fact that these transactions were likely in violation of the Jones Act, regarding U.S. flagged ships, and because the ships are of the vintage that contain high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in their construction, were likely in violation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). TSCA forbids the export or the "distribution in commerce" of PCBs. The Basel Action Network (BAN) had previously sent a series of letters to the EPA and MARAD warning them of the imminent and likely violations of U.S. laws and called specifically upon the EPA to at least require the ships to be tested for PCBs prior to export. But to the great surprise of the environmental watchdog organization, that had worked with the EPA in numerous instances in the past, the Obama administration refused to act.[4]

"This is really shocking. All through the Bush Administration the EPA took action every time we warned them of a pending TSCA violation and their record of enforcement was strong. Now we have elected an environmental president and his administration for the first time in ten years is willing to ignore the law and dump toxic waste onboard U.S. flagged ships on developing countries," said Jim Puckett, Executive Director of Basel Action Network (BAN).

Today, sadly, little has changed to improve the conditions of the workers in India and Bangladesh since the Baltimore Sun articles and subsequent export moratorium 11 years ago. Already this year 9 persons have died outright from occupational accidents in Bangladesh. Just last month 6 workers were cooked inside a ship after it caught fire in an Indian breaking yard due to shipbreaker owner negligence. Many more suffer the longer term impacts of asbestos and toxic fumes from cutting torches and the local environment is completely contaminated by toxic chemicals and fuel residues. However it is far more profitable for all concerned to send ships to South Asia than to properly recycle them here in the U.S.

The Anders and the Bonny were constructed in Odense, Denmark (1979 and 1980) and have operated for the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) since they were imported to the U.S. for conversion from commercial cargo ships in 1982. The Wilmington Trust Corporation owned the vessels for the benefit of Phillip Morris, Inc. who chartered the vessels to the MSC, with shipping giant Maersk operating the ships on MSC’s behalf. MSC’s charter was terminated on July 15, 2009 (27 year charter) when the vessels were sold to an unknown company called Star Maritime Corporation. BAN's subsequent research revealed that Star Maritime is merely a Delaware mailbox company. Star does not have a U.S. address or place of business and records show they were subject to a mere $75 in taxes to the State of Delaware in 2008. They have never filed a 10K annual report to the Securities Exchange Commission. Under the Jones Act, it is unlawful to sell a U.S. flagged vessel to a foreign citizen and it appears that Star Maritime was the domestic entity created by foreign shipscrappers to obtain U.S. ships. However, so far BAN has found no evidence of a U.S. citizen that owns or is linked to Star Maritime in any way.

According to BAN's sources, the real buyer of the ship appears to be a Mr. Mohammed Tahir Lakhani of Dubai[5] who industry insiders have indicated has already sold the vessel onward to Bangladesh shipbreaker Mr. Haji Lokman Hossain. Mr. Lakhani owns the United Eastern Trading Company in London and is partner in Dubai Trading Agency, one of the world’s largest cash buyers for ship scrapping in the world. This information was confirmed when Mr. Suryakant Pai of United Eastern Trading and Lakhani's financial manager, sent a letter to the EPA and MARAD discounting the claim that the vessels were destined for scrapping. Mr. Pai’s letter was on letterhead shared by United Eastern and Star Maritime, with the contact e-mail address of demo@unitedeastern.co.uk.

Once the sale to the shell company Star Maritime was approved by MARAD, they then authorized the reflagging of the vessels because Star made claims that the ships would not be scrapped but rather used commercially. These claims belied numerous reports in trade journals that the ships were sold by Wilmington Trust for scrap. Once the ships were re-flagged then they could be legally sent for scrapping and MARAD could wash their hands of the issue entirely. This crafty maneuvering appears to have been accepted by EPA and MARAD as they willingly approved the sale, reflagging and export despite BAN’s repeated warnings of who the true owners were and the violation of the spirit if not the letter of the Jones Act and the Toxics Substances Control Act. EPA decided not to investigate further despite the fact that BAN produced a Navy report produced by the RAND Corporation that indicated ships of 1979 and 1980 build dates, routinely contained PCBs.

"It is outrageous that these ships were allowed to sail, but this story is far from over. Obama's EPA and Maritime Administration will have to explain how it is that these ships, mixed up with giant U.S. conglomerates such as Philip Morris and Maersk, were so easily able to circumvent US enforcement and break with the government's long-standing moral moratorium against dumping US flagged ships into the environmental hell of South Asian shipbreaking yards," said Colby Self, BAN's Green Ship Recycling Campaign Director. "Meanwhile we will be warning Bangladesh to bar the entry of these renegade vessels."

Under the Basel Convention, it is illegal for Bangladesh to import toxic waste from the United States. The negligence of the U.S. government in this case could well become an international incident.

Spokespersons:

Colby Self (206) 250-5652, colby.self@gmail.com

Jim Puckett, (206) 652-5555, jpuckett@ban.org

(1) Coast Guard Confirmed 23.00 hrs EST, ship sailed for Santos, Brazil.

(2) http://www.ban.org/BAN_NEWS/usships.html

(3) http://www.pulitzer.org/works/1998-Investigative-Reporting

(4) Most recent plea to EPA from BAN:

http://www.ban.org/library/Bonny_AndersLetter_EPA.pdf

(5) http://www.nhstevents.com/events/article525107.ece

Source: Basel Action Network (BAN). 27 August 2009

http://www.ban.org/ban_news/2009/090827_toxic_navy_ships_to_be_dumped.html