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New ruling on "ghost" ships
29 October 2004
The Basel Convention, which controls the international trade in toxic waste and of which the UK has signed up to, has today ruled that scrap ships can be considered "toxic" because of the chemicals within the ship structure.
The UK and other signatories to the convention should therefore not export scrap ships to developing countries, minimise the trans-boundary movement of scrap ships and ensure that scrapping facilities are environmentally sound. (The USA is not a signatory to the Basel Convention).
Mike Childs, Campaign Director at Friends of the Earth, said:
"This is an import ruling which will better control the trade in scrap ships. It is a defeat for those that argued that the ghost fleet ships should not be considered toxic and that the trade in scrap ships should go unhindered. Most of all it is a victory for the environment and common sense."
Friends of the Earth campaigned against the US export of 13 ghost ships to the UK because:
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It set a precedent that would result in further US ships being exported to developing countries.
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That the scrapping facility in the UK was no environmentally sound in that proper studies had not been carried out, legal permissions weren't in place and the scrapping facility hadn't even been constructed.
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That the ships should be scrapped in the USA.
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jun 2008
