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US ship stirs toxic panic in Alang
Vessel sneaks into the shipyard with its name changed.
Updated : Nov 19, 2013, 11:17 PM IST
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A ship of US origin, suspected to be carrying toxic substances, arrived at Alang anchorage on October 7, without prior permission from the authorities concerned.
The vessel, which now calls itself Platinum-II, is alleged to be the ‘dead’ ship SS Oceanic that lay idle at Dubai port for nearly 1.5 years. ‘SS Oceanic’ itself is the new name given to the US vessel, SS Independence. Platinum-II was towed into Alang port by the tugboat, Baracuda-1.
The Indian Platform on Ship-breaking (IPoS), a coalition of environment and human rights activists, has written a letter to the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) informing it about Platinum-II’s arrival at Alang.
IPoS convener Gopal Krishna said he had mentioned in the letter that the 682-ft ship is loaded with around 210 tonnes of material contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), a highly toxic substance. It is also carrying approximately 200 tonnes of asbestos-containing material, he added.
As soon as Platinum-II arrived at Alang, the ship-breaking vessel, ‘Haryana Ship-breaker’ (plot no. 14), and a ship broker, quietly convinced the local officials that the vessel was safe for beaching the same day (October 7). No effort was made to inform all the local departments concerned.
Unfortunately for Platinum-II, the tugboat, Barracuda-1, collided with another vessel, Amira-S, that was also anchored there. It was because of this accident that Platinum-II’s presence at Alang became public knowledge. The local authorities discovered that Platinum-II was none other than SS Oceanic which had been given a new name without the necessary changes in its documents.
GV Patel, the local officer of the GPCB, told DNA that when they boarded the vessel on October 8, they found approximately 200 tonnes of asbestos-containing material. He added that they had reported this to their counterparts in Gandhinagar.
IPoS has demanded that the US government should recall the ship in the same way as the French government had recalled ‘Le Clemenceau’.
