space Press Releases, News Stories

By Brian Reyes

ALIAGA, Turkey, 15 January 2002  -- Greenpeace calls on owners to clean up vessels before sending them to Asian nation's scrapping yards.

TURKISH police yesterday arrested 17 Greenpeace activists during an anti-pollution protest at a shipbreaking yard in Aliaga, near the port of Izmir.

The environmentalists were highlighting the problems caused by toxic substances on ships and are now calling on shipowners to clean their vessels before sending them for scrap.

The action coincides with publication of a Greenpeace report into Turkey's shipbreaking industry, which finds that the country is "being used by the so-called developed part of the world as a toxic waste dumping ground", despite being a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

"[Sediment] samples taken from the vicinity of the yards (near Aliaga) indicate that the shipbreaking practice has polluted the local environment with asbestos, mineral oil, heavy metals, PAHs, PCBs and organotin compounds," the report states. The document, which was prepared in close co-operation with local labour unions, also criticises working conditions in the yards. It slams the Turkish government and the yards' management for not doing enough to clean up operations and improve safety levels, "particularly as Turkey has adequate legal instruments to protect itself against this kind of toxic waste trade." But its harshest objections are levelled at shipowners.

"They send their hazardous waste ships without caring about the impacts they will have on human health and the environment," the reports says.

"Shipowners misuse the adequate enforcement of environmental and workers' protection legislation in Turkey and other Asian countries.

"Financial benefits (from) selling the ships for scrap at high prices is only possible at a high cost for the envi-ronment and workers' health."

In a short-lived protest yesterday, activists climbed on board the Star of Venice and unfurled banners calling for an end to "toxic shipbreaking."

They were arrested soon after by Turkish police, who also confiscated an inflatable launch and later detained the Rainbow Warrior in Izmir.

Other protesters daubed a slogan on the side of the vessel Best, which was at anchor outside the yard awaiting her turn to be scrapped.

"It is unacceptable that the shipping industry gets away with passing hazardous waste to countries like Turkey, leaving the people and the environment exposed to the most dangerous substances known to mankind," said Turkish activist Erdem Vardar, who was arrested during yesterday's protest.

"The European Union is in a rather schizophrenic position as it aims to enforce high environmental standards on EU applicants but allows... the dumping of toxic waste in its own backyard."

The shipping industry, however, is paying increasing attention to the issue of scrapping and recently adopted a voluntary code for clean demolition.

Other bodies and governments, including the parties signed up to the Basle Convention, are working on measures to clean up demolition operations.

But Greenpeace believes the industry should be globally regulated, something which many shipping experts believe is unrealistic.

The environmentalists are calling on shipowners to accept responsibility for their ships and ensure that they are gas-free and decontaminated before scrapping. Greenpeace this week wrote to major ship owners and operators asking them to publicly pledge their commitment to cleaner scrapping.