15 January 2007 – The government yesterday denied ocean liner MT Apsheron entry to Bangladesh until it is decontaminated first somewhere outside the country's boundary.

The bar on the contaminated ship, which is on a Greenpeace watch list of '50 ships in the spotlight', came after the media had exposed that it was heading for Chittagong's ship breaking yards without being decontaminated.

The Department of Shipping in a letter to all the agencies concerned asked not to allow Apsheron into Bangladesh.

The shipping department asked Pakiza Enterprise, importer of the vessel to be scrapped, to decontaminate the ship somewhere outside the territory of Bangladesh to the satisfaction of the department before brining it in.

Pakiza Enterprise earlier secured a no objection certificate (NOC) from the shipping department to import the contaminated vessel for scrapping.

Chief Chemist of the Department of Shipping Md Musharraf Ashraf said, "We have alerted the Chittagong Port Authority, Bangladesh Navy, Collector of Customs, Bangladesh Bank, the Department of Explosives, and Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association asking them to take necessary actions immediately."

The authorities asked the Department of Explosives and the navy not to inspect the ocean liner and not to issue a clearance unless and until it is satisfactorily decontaminated.

They asked the Bangladesh Bank not to allow opening of an LC in favour of the importer and asked the Chittagong Port Authority not to allow the ship to beach.

The letter read, "The department has obtained information that MT Apsheron carries hazardous materials onboard and scrapping of the ship will cause environmental pollution."

"Now the importer will not be able to bring the ship into Bangladesh territory unless it is decontaminated," said Ashraf.

Apsheron and her sistership Gudermes, are on the list of '50 ships in the spotlight' created by Greenpeace International, an environmentalist watchdog fighting against potential threats to the world's biodiversity and environment.

Both the ships are in the Indian Ocean sailing for Bangladesh and are believed to have hazardous wastes such as asbestos, PCB, toxic paint and fuel residues on board.

The Basel Convention affirmed in Geneva on 29 October, 2004 that ships can be considered toxic waste under international laws and that its 163 signatories must control export of ships under the terms of the convention.

In 1995 the Basel Convention banned export of hazardous wastes, including materials for recycling from developed to developing countries.

In a writ petition in relation to another toxic ship, Alfaship, the High Court (HC) directed the director general of Department of Shipping to frame a set of rules to regulate entry of toxic ocean liners into the country, said Director of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) Syeda Rizwana Hasan.

"Actually the list of 50 by Greenpeace is not all," she said adding, "There are many more hazardous ships being scrapped frequently in developing countries like Bangladesh."

"The shipping department needs to have an office in Chittagong as well because the department presently can inspect at best ten ships per month from Dhaka," said Musharraf Ashraf.

Bangladesh lacks specific laws to regulate import of ships for scrapping, he said adding that there are three lists of industrial units and projects which are hazardous to the environment - green, orange, and red - created by the government according to the level of hazardous impact on the environment.

Ship breaking is on the orange list of the environment conservation law but it is difficult to apply it to the sector as the government has not yet declared the sector as an industry, Musharraf said.

"If they abide by the inspection of the chief inspector of factories, what is the problem in applying the orange list to ship breaking?" asked Rizwana Hasan.

According to shipping department sources, the government remains under pressure from those who make money out of the unlawful business of issuing NOCs.

"Even a legal fight in this regard is a big hassle for them, as they don't have adequate support for this," a source said.

Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association (BSBA) does not comply with even basic minimum standards for safety and environmental protection, said Rizwana.

"According to Bela's investigation, 13 workers died in ship breaking yards of Bangladesh," she said.

Director General (DG) of the Department of Shipping Captain AKM Shafiqullah said the department has various constraints particularly of adequate resource to institute a full-fledged ship inspection system.

The department has been as it was in 1983 but the volume of shipping business has increased twenty times.

"We even cannot carry out what we feel is needed!" said Shafiqullah.

Regarding the HC directive to frame a set of rules to regulate import of ships for scrapping, Shafiqullah said, "It is at the drafting stage."

Meanwhile, various environmentalist organisations including Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) formed a human chain yesterday, and Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa) also protested the move to bring toxic ships in Bangladesh.