Malta urged to help stop hazardous ship scrapping

A number of Maltese-registered ships are being broken up in Asia every year in a process that poses health and environmental hazards, Greenpeace claimed yesterday, calling on the government to "stop this illegality".

Greenpeace campaigner Marietta Harjono said that each year between 500 and 600 old tankers and container ships from all over the globe are sent to beaches in India, Bangladesh, China, Pakistan and Turkey to be scrapped, since breaking ships in richer countries costs ship owners "much, much more".

"Malta, after Panama, is the largest exporter of toxic, end-of-life ships to Asia," said Ms Harjono, part of a Greenpeace delegation which spoke to the media yesterday.

Last year, about 34 ships flying the Maltese flag were sent to Asian beaches for breaking. The figure between January and September this year was 15.

Martin Besieux, a Greenpeace activist, said the environment organisation had found a Maltese-flagged ship, the St Angelo (owned by Greek company Valiant Shipping) on a beach in Mumbai during an inspection in November 2003.

He said that in countries where ship breaking was cheap, people of all ages working in appalling conditions broke the vessels for companies that resold old steel and other materials for remoulding. But during the breaking process, workers were continually exposed to toxic waste such as asbestos and PCBs, while residues were dispersed into the sea threatening the lives of thousands. There were no reliable statistics showing how many people died when ships exploded during breaking.

The press saw footage of ship breaking activity that the activists used to substantiate their claims yesterday. Ships were simply placed on a beach and barefooted workers wearing no masks or protective gear broke them down in four to eight months.

"Paint and oil residue is dispersed into the sea when the ships are broken. While some workers cut steel with oxy-acetylene torches with no protection, others drag huge propellers on mud. Others even burn cables to extract its copper," he said.

Apart from the toxins that remain in the obsolete vessels, the workers were continually exposed to hazardous waste that made up the ships' structure such as heavy metals and asbestos that have been banned from modern ships for health reasons.

"As an influential country within the International Maritime Organisation and a new member state of the European Union, Malta can and should stop this illegality. We are asking the government to take a leadership role and to bring about change internationally," Mr Besieux said.

But what could the flag country do if it was up to the ship owners to choose where to dispose of their old ships? According to Greenpeace, Malta should oblige shipping companies flying its flag to dispose of their vessels in an environmentally sound manner or strike them off its list.

"The problem of losing its clients to other countries that do not implement stringent environmental rules could be solved if Malta encourages other countries to respect these principles," Mr Besieux said.

The Greenpeace delegation is expected to meet Communications and Competitiveness Minister Censu Galea and Environment Minister George Pullicino in the coming days.

It is estimated that the number of ships for scrap will increase by five times the number of ships that are broken today. The IMO has agreed to phase out single hull tankers following the Erika and Prestige disasters in 1999 and 2002 respectively, meaning that an extra 2,200 single hull tankers will have to be sent for dismantling by 2010.

A scrapped ship is worth about US$1.9 million.