No unlawful activity by Trafigura-leased ship

I am writing in response to the Talking Point article Questions That Remain Unanswered (July 30) by Owen Bonnici MP which contained a number of inaccuracies and omissions.

Ship to ship transfers of cargoes are both regulated and very common, as is the Merox processing of gasoline, and the Probo Koala was classed to carry caustic cargoes and was properly equipped for such operations.

The ship left Amsterdam Port with the authorisation of the Dutch port authorities, but the slops were then unlawfully dumped in Abidjan not by Trafigura but by a licensed port operator, in a manner which Trafigura could not have foreseen. Trafigura maintains that these were cargo residues, the management of which is governed by the provisions of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Marpol) and the 2000 EU Directive on Port Reception Facilities (2000/59/EC).

Regarding the report of John Minton, Mr Minton has since made clear on several occasions that this report was a draft based on purely hypothetical assumptions, and that its conclusions were superseded within days by a report of the Netherlands Forensic Institute.

I understand Dr Bonnici’s interest in the operations of the Probo Koala in Maltese waters, particularly given the widespread and all too often erroneous media reporting on the Abidjan dumping incident. However, he should rest assured that the Probo Koala engaged in no unlawful activity either in Malta or elsewhere while chartered by Trafigura.