International Policy
Otapan: Environmental Victory for Proper Ship Scrapping
16 May 2008 – Environmentalists toasted a major victory today as the saga of the controversial ship Otapan finally appears to be coming to a happy ending as it sailed Thursday night cleaned and decontaminated from Amsterdam to the Turkish shipbreaking yards of… More
BAN PRESS RELEASE: SS Oceanic: US EPA Sues Ship Broker for Illegal Export but Allows ‘Toxic Timebomb’ to Sail
20 March 2008 – Following a tip from the Basel Action Network (BAN) and Save the Classic Liners Campaign, the US Environmental Protection Agency has filed suit against a well known “cashbuyer” company that routinely buys ships from all over the world and… More
Government of Chile Urged Not to Dump Warships
2 July 2007 – The NGO Platform on Shipbreaking, a coalition of human rights and environmental groups working to prevent environmentally damaging and exploitive ship recycling, has discovered that two decommissioned Chilean destroyers (former UK navy vessels) named the Almirante Cochrane (formerly the… More
Call to Indian government: send back the Blue Lady!
4 December 2006 – There is still hope for the SS Blue Lady case! Today the Indian Supreme Court provisionary ruled that the former ocean liner is not allowed to be dismantled at Alang shipbreaking yards. The Court has asked the Gujarat Pollution… More
Draft IMO Treaty on Ship Scrapping Immoral
13 October 22006 – A coalition of labor, human rights, and environmental NGOs condemned as immoral the outcome of this week’s International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) meeting charged with developing international law to control the deadly global ship scrapping practice that exploits the environments… More
Toxic Waste Ship Rejected: Turkey Closes Ports to “Dutch Clemenceau”
25 August 2006 – The newly formed Turkish civil society coalition, Initiative Against Hazardous Shipbreaking in Turkey (Tehlikeli Gemi Sökümünü Önleme Giri?imi) and the NGO Platform on Shipbreaking, a coalition of human rights, environmental and public health groups, are demanding that the Dutch… More
India ignores international law
15 August 2006 – The SS Norway, recently renamed Blue Lady, has been beached at the shipbreaking yards of Alang, India. It is the largest End of Life ship that arrived in Alang since the aircraft carrier Clemenceau was forced to return to… More
MS OTAPAN – “the Dutch Clemenceau”: Environmental Activists Demand Netherlands to Recall Toxic Vessel
12 August 2006 – On August 16, 2006, the MS Otapan, a double-hulled chemical tanker completed in 1965, is expected to arrive in Turkey for dismantling. The vessel brings with it a maelstrom of controversy over the real quantity of hazardous wastes it… More
Cruise line called on to take responsibility for toxic cruise ship
26 July 2006 – In a registered letter(i) sent on 21 July 2006, the NGO Platform on Shipbreaking, representing over a dozen human rights, public health, and environmental organizations from the world over, delivered an ultimatum to Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) president, Mr…. More
Star Cruises deceived German autorities
30 June 2006 - New evidence today reveals that Star Cruises Ltd deliberately withheld vital information from the German authorities, to dispose of the End of Life ship SS Norway. Star Cruises Ltd (SCL) is the third largest cruise operator in the world. Secret… More
