China Cautious of US Ghost Fleet Deal
by Pamela Pun, The Standard
15 March 2003 –
China would carefully study whether to dismantle a fleet of United States naval vessels containing cancer-causing materials in the mainland, an official said yesterday.
A minister confirmed yesterday that a team from the US arrived on Thursday to begin talks on the possibility of dismantling the fleet. The minister in charge of the State Environmental Protection Administration (Sepa), Xie Zhenhua, made the comments yesterday following a Washington Post report, published in The Standard's MetroNews, that the US was anxiously trying to find a country to dismantle its ghost fleet' of rusting decommissioned ships.
The Washington Post report said officials from the US Maritime Administration and the country's Environmental Protection Agency arrived in Beijing and began meetings on Thursday with their counterparts from Sepa. They would then travel to Shanghai and Guangzhou for more talks and to inspect shipyards there, the report said.
"I can inform you that this is the fact. However there is some misleading information in that report. Relevant institutions from the US have put forward a proposal to Sepa that some waste vessels be dismantled in China,'' Xi said. "But we have not yet come into formal contact with the US side . According to the Basel Convention, those waste iron and steel vessels that could be recycled are allowed to be dismantled and utilised comprehensively in other countries. In China we also have relevant regulations and standards in this regard.'' He went on: "We need to contact the US side and further study the proposal . After a thorough study, we will make our decision in accordance with the Basel Convention and our regulations.''
The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal came into force in 1992. The US has yet to ratify the convention.
The Washington Post report said the US was searching worldwide for ports to dismantle its ghost fleet. Ports in China, Mexico, Scotland and Wales are on the US shortlist because of cheaper labour costs and looser environmental regulations in the countries. The ghost fleet of 71 obsolete ships contain cancer-causing materials including asbestos and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. The vessels also still hold around 60 million litres of fuel and oil.
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