Brussels,
7 September 2012 – The “Northern Vitality”, a 15-year-old containership owned
by German company “Norddeutsche Vermögen Holding GmbH & Co” and chartered
by Swiss company MSC, will be heading
next week for the shipbreaking beach of Alang in India unless German
authorities step in to halt its illegal export. Hazardous materials such as
asbestos, refrigerants, oil residues, sludge and heavy metals are bound to be
onboard the “Northern Vitality”, either in its structure or in electronic
equipment, paints and the ship’s stores. Under European waste law it is illegal
to export an end-of-life ship containing toxic materials to India.
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| Northern Vitality |
“We
expect Germany to enforce existing export bans on hazardous waste trafficking
to developing countries”, said Ingvild Jenssen, Director of the NGO
Shipbreaking Platform, a global coalition of human rights, labour rights and
environmental organisations. “German authorities have a clear legal obligation
to stop the “Northern Vitality” from leaving the port of Wilhelmshaven in Lower
Saxony.”
Yesterday
the NGO Shipbreaking Platform alerted the Lower Saxony Ministry of Transport as
well as Environmental Affairs of this imminent breach of European and German
law. The Platform will closely be following up this case and already welcomes
that the German authorities have taken initial steps to ensure that the
European Waste Shipment Regulation is enforced.
The
“Northern Vitality” was sold last week by its German owner to the famous
shipbroker GMS, along with its sister ships: the “Northern Dignity” currently
located in Singapore, and the “Northern Felicity” anchored in Dubai. GMS’s
business is to buy ships at end-of-life and resell them to the South Asian
shipbreaking yards. The economic and financial crisis is causing more ships to
be sent for breaking. It is expected that 2012 will be a record year for the
shipbreaking yards of South Asia.
On
the Indian beach of Alang, hundreds of ships are broken every year and their
steel recycled. Little or no care is given to the proper handling of the many
hazardous wastes such as asbestos, refrigerants and heavy metals trapped within
the ships’ structure, electrical equipment and in operational wastes. Once the
ships are laid up on the tidal beach, hundreds of untrained and unprotected
workers will dismantle them at the risk of being exposed to cancer due to
inhalation of asbestos fibers and toxic fumes, or to fatal accidents caused by
gas leaks, explosions, the falling from heights or being crushed by heavy steel
plates. Hazardous debris and waste are released into the marine environment,
burnt on-site or dumped in surrounding areas. More than 100 km of the coastal
zone on both sides of the Alang shipbreaking yards is polluted.
On 30
July 2012, India made it clear that the “Exxon Valdez”, a ship famous for the
oil pollution it caused in Alaska in 1989, and which was sold for demolition in
May 2012, would be the last toxic ship to be allowed into Indian waters. The
Indian Supreme Court directed the government to ensure a clean and pollution
free marine environment. Hazardous materials thus need to be removed from the
vessels prior to entering Indian waters for dismantling purposes.
“India
simply cannot tolerate that steel is recycled from ships at such a high cost
for the workers and the environment,” said Ritwick Dutta, an Indian lawyer from
Legal Initiative on Forest and Environment (LIFE). “European ship owners let
Indians bear the cost of dealing with the toxic waste contained in their ships,
but the Supreme Court has stated over and over again that
this is illegal.”
Contact:
Ingvild
Jenssen
Director
NGO
Shipbreaking Platform
Tel:
0032 (0)2 6094 419
Ritwick
Dutta
Lawyer
Legal
Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE)
Tel:
0091 1149536656
Source: NGO Shipbreaking Platform. 7 September 2012
http://www.shipbreakingplatform.org/media-alert-ngos-call-on-germany-stop-toxic-ship-before-it-reaches-alang-graveyard/
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