Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
EU must prevent environmental catastrophe in Asia
European Union must guarantee clean ship breaking to
prevent environmental catastrophe in Asia
Amsterdam,
Valetta, 14 April 2005 - A week after the global ban on
single hull oil tankers there are still such ships that
operate outside the law on seas worldwide. As a matter of
fact, nobody knows how many of these should be out of waters
as of 5th April 2005 - neither the industry, nor the
authorities (1). Most of these so-called 'end-of-life ships'
will be heading to Asia and Turkey to be scrapped, causing
human and environmental catastrophe. Greenpeace is calling
on the European Union to end the lack of transparency in
shipping and to develop a definitive and consolidated list
of single-hull oil tankers that are subject to the phase-out
regulations.
"The European Union pushed for the phase-out but 'forgot' to provide measures for ensuring safe and clean breaking of these ships," said Marietta Harjono of Greenpeace. "There's a need for immediate commitment from EU transport ministers and the European Commission that the toxic burden of Europe's single-hull oil tankers will not end up on Asian beaches."
Greenpeace research (2) shows that the burden of 'toxic ships' dumped on Asian beaches will increase in the coming years. The phase out entered into force on 5 April, with more than 2,000 oil tankers now slated to be decommissioned over the next five years (3). Within Europe Malta is the leading country with over 80 single hull oil tankers either owned or flagged there.
Activists of the international environmental organisation today called on the Maltese Government to guarantee the clean decommissioning of single hulled oil tankers and to bring the issue onto the agenda of 21 April meeting of the European Union Transport Council. The activists hung a banner on top of the gate of the Maltese Ministry for Competitiveness and Communications today demanding 'Clean Shipbreaking NOW!'.
Greenpeace demands that the Maltese government and other EU member states act to solve this problem and end the "out-of-sight, out-of-mind" approach to European shipbreaking. In a meeting last week with Greenpeace, the Minister for Trade and Industry of Gibraltar promised to immediately investigate implementing stricter control on single hulls oil tankers and promised to cooperate to prevent the illegal export of these tankers to Asia for breaking.
"The ministers of the European Union now have the opportunity to bring the scandal of shipbreaking under control and put a stop to dangerous exports of toxic tankers to Asia - for once and for all" finished Harjono.
Notes to editors
(1) Tankers in
Transition, 2004, Clarkson Research Studies, September 2004.
"As we will demonstrate in this report, the Category I
fleet is not clearly defined, and neither IMO nor Intertanko
know which vessels comply with the 5th April deadline."
(Summary, page 1)
"Althogh this (regulations) seems
straightforward there has been much debate as to exactly how
much tonnage will have to go by end-2005. Recent figures
quoted form differenr sources have out the figure at
anywhere between 18 m and 29m." (Amd Page 33)
(2) The
Greenpeace-analysis 'Destination Unknown: European single
hull oil tankers... No place to go' reveals the staggering
collective oil cargo onboard the ships to be banned by the
end of 2005. This cargo - 130 million litres - equals to
more than two 'Prestige' disasters. The ships also contain
asbestos, heavy metals, PCBs and the toxic organic tin
compound tributyl tin (TBT) for which regulations in
industrialised countries require mandatory eye, skin and
lung protection for any contact work. No such regulations
are enforced in developing world shipbreaking yards.
Report can be downloaded from http://greenpeaceweb.org/shipbreak/
(3)
The 2000 oil tankers that need to get out of the water the
coming 5 years will not only increase the pressure on
existing shipbreakig yards leading to more deaths and
environmental pollution but also threaten to turn clean
beaches into toxic graveyards. A current example of this is
Kakinada beach, Andhra Pradesh, India. For more information
please see http://greenpeaceweb.org/shipbreak/
Greenpeace
Greenpeace exists because this fragile earth deserves a voice.
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.
Carbon Market Watch: Going For Green - Is The Paris Olympics Winning The Race Against The Climate Clock?
New Zealand Defence Force: NZDF Working With Pacific Neighbours To Support Solomon Islands Election
UN News: Ceasefire The Only Way To End Killing And Injuring Of Children In Gaza
ICHRP: US-Japan-Philippines Trilateral Summit Makes The Philippines A Battlefield For US-China Conflict
East West Center: Environmental Journalist Alexander Kaufman Receives East-West Center’s Inaugural Melvin M.S. Goo Writing Fellowship
Compassion in World Farming: Octopus Farm Must Be Stopped, Say Campaigners