Ferry sale comes under scrutiny
Police investigate the sale of old ferry Kong Frederik IX, which is to be scrapped in India
by Bjarke Ørsted, Scanpix Denmark
26 April 2005 (Denmark) – The Environmental Protection Agency has asked the state police to investigate the seller's, buyer's, and mediator's role in the sale of the 51-year-old ferry, Kong Frederik IX, from Denmark.
The aging ship was released from its berth in Korsør Harbour in March, after a protracted process to decide whether it was seaworthy. Greenpeace claimed the ship's new buyer, Jupiter Ship Management, had the sole intention of sailing the ship to India, where it would be scrapped under environmentally harmful conditions. The ship is now harboured at the scrapping station in India, instead of being used for transport as claimed by Jupiter Ship Management. Jupiter has already requested permission from Indian authorities to have the ship scrapped.
Earlier this month, Denmark requested that India take action to prevent the ship from being scrapped. Environmental Minister Connie Hedegaard asked her colleague from India to return the ship, as it is illegal in Denmark to export waste material.
Hedegaard said a police investigation in Denmark could not prevent the ferry from being scrapped. 'I can't see there's anything more we can do,' she told national radio news channel DR. 'We are doing everything in our power to inform Indian authorities as soon as we receive new information.' But Socialist MP Steen Gade said Denmark should put more pressure on India. 'If it can't be done at an Environmental Ministry level, it has to go up to Foreign Ministry level,' he said. Gade said a correct resolution would set an important precedent, as the EU countries are soon to discontinue the use of 300 ferries.
'This should become a lesson for cheaters and those EU countries who maybe dream of exporting the ferries,' he said. The case will give the police plenty to think of, as the ferry's ownership structure alone is difficult to discern.
Jupiter Shipping Management may have bought Kong Frederik IX, but the role of the city of Korsør is also to be investigated, as local authorities may have committed an error by granting the ferry permission to leave a local harbour.
One of the shipping company's first actions after leaving Denmark on 16 March was to register the ship at the Caribbean island of St. Vincent. The new owners have been long suspected of wanting to scrap the ferry on the infamous Alang beach in India.
Greenpeace, which called attention to the purchase, pointed out that Jupiter has sailed 10 other ships to be scrapped in India in the last two years.
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