Bangladesh to keep out toxic ship MV Asia Union
It may possess hazardous substances including asbestos, toxic paints and chemical residues
Bangladeshi officials have ordered the country's coast guard not to allow a suspected toxic ship into its waters.
Their move follow complaints that the vessel may contain harmful chemicals and poses a health and safety threat.
22 Sep 11 - 18:10
Bangladesh to keep out toxic ship MV Asia Union
It may possess hazardous substances including asbestos, toxic paints and chemical residues
Bangladeshi officials have ordered the country's coast guard not to allow a suspected toxic ship into its waters.
Their move follow complaints that the vessel may contain harmful chemicals and poses a health and safety threat.
At present the ship, the MV Asia Union, has been anchored around eight nautical miles (12km) off the coast of the southern port of Chittagong.
Officials say agents of the ship have sought permission to bring it into Bangladesh for dismantling.
Environmental groups say it may possess hazardous substances including asbestos, toxic paints and chemical residues which are harmful to human health and the environment.
Bangladesh has become one of the world's leading ship-breaking nations, with dozens of cargo ships and tankers from around the world being brought to yards - mostly in the Chittagong region - to be dismantled.
Coast guard alerted
"We haven't received any application for MV Asia Union," Department of Environment Director General Monowar Islam told the BBC.
"We have not provided any environment clearance for this ship. So, this ship cannot enter into Bangladeshi waters."
Other Bangladeshi departments with responsibilities for giving permission for obsolete foreign ships to be dismantled all say they have no information about the MV Asia Union.
"First of all to import a scrap vessel one has to get a No Objection Certificate from our department to open a Letter of Credit. We didn't issue any No Objection Certificate to this ship," Department of Shipping Director General Jobair Ahmed told the BBC.
"So, if the ship enters Bangladeshi territory, then it is illegal."
However, a senior Chittagong port official said they were sending a team to find out whether the ship contains any toxic materials - and their report will be sent to the Department of Environment before a final decision is taken.
According to the Paris-based environmental group, Robin des Bois, the MV Asia Union was built in South Korea in 1982. It says that since South Korea banned the use of asbestos only in 2009 "the MV Asia Union obviously contains a great amount of asbestos".
The group says that the ship "is at the end of her life... and obviously is in a bad condition".
Ship-breakers say that recycled steel from dismantled ships supplies around 60% of Bangladesh's total steel demands. They say that the industry also provides jobs to thousands of people.
But environmentalists allege that many old ships come with hazardous materials which are dumped in coastal areas, posing a danger to the environment and to workers.
Official figures show that since 2006 more than 80 workers have been killed and hundreds injured at scrap yards - mostly due to gas explosions on oil tankers.
Source: BBC
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