Request for Inquiry into Platinum II (formerly Oceanic, Independence) & documents of dead ships that entered Alang waters post September, 2007
To
ACB Gandhinagar
Gujarat
Pin- 382010
Subject-Request for Inquiry into Platinum II (formerly Oceanic, Independence) & documents of dead ships that entered Alang waters post September, 2007
Sir/Madam,
I am writing to inform you about the US flagged vessel called the Oceanic (IMO No. 5160180) that is said to be reflagged under Kiribati registry as of September 30, 2009 under the name Platinum II or D.V. Platinum II (formerly SS Oceanic, SS Independence). I am requesting you to inquire into the documents of this ship in particular and all the ships that entered Alang waters post September 6, 2007 order of the Indian Supreme Court.
I am an applicant in the Supreme Court of India in the hazardous wastes case and I had sent a letter to the Union Ministry of Environment & Forests in the matter of a US flagged vessel called the Platinum II (formerly Oceanic, Independence) with IMO No. 5160180. I had written to the concerned US authorities as well.
In response to my letter about the ship in question, the Union Government's central inspection team's report on the ship mentioned above is available at http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/Final_Plantinum-II_Report.pdf and its annexures which has documents of claimed registry are available at
http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/Annexures_Platinium.pdf
On page 9. of the 23rd October, 2009 Report of the Central Technical Team constituted by Ministry of Environment & Forests on the inspection of Ship “Platinum-II” anchored at Bhavnagar Anchorage Point, Gujarat, India, it is submitted that "the Ship does not have any national flag though USA flag was found painted on Chimney. The ship is of 1951 make and as per Lloyds Register ( Annex: VI) ; its original name was Independence as registered in USA. The name has been undergone changes thereafter and its present name is Platinum-II as registered in-Republic of Kiribati in September, 2009 in the name of M/s Platinum Investment Services Corporation at 80, Broad Street, Monrovia, Liberia."
Following my letter dated 7 Nov 2009, an order was issued by the Union Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) established that post September 6, 2007 order of the Supreme Court, the post of registry of most of some 200 ships have not been properly investigated before desk clearance. It creates a compelling logic to do so now both with regard to previous ships and any new ship in future.The order Office Memorandum on US Ship "Platinum -II", Dated November 9th, 2009 is also availble on the website of the Ministry of Environment & Forests: http://moef.nic.in/index.php
It is noteworthy that the order categorically states, the order on the issue in question has been passed "with the approval of the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment & Forests", Mr Jairam Ramesh and refers to allegations of fake documents which needs to be looked into.
Earlier, there has been newspapers referring to intelligence reports mentioning that the Gujarat Maritime Board regulations seem to allow dead ships innocent passage through the entire stretch of Indian waters unscrutinized by the security agencies. Besides environmental security, maritime security, national security also seems to be a casualty. Also minutes of the Inter-ministerial committee on shipbreaking available on the website of Union Steel Ministry refers to security threats from the Alang based industry.
The order of MoEF and its report emerged in response to the letters written by me to the Indian authorties and the US authorities.
The US ship in question left US shores in February, 2008. US law requires US Maritime Administration (MARAD) to give approval to dead ships for any reflagging for scrap purposes. It is clear from the documents in public domain that two laws have been violated. The US Maritime Law and likely Indian Maritime Law. It must be illegal for a ship to be brought into India with a falsified flag and registry. What is quite glaring is the motivated connivance on the part of the US Maritime Administration. We are aware that more than 300 dead and toxic ship are waiting to be dumped in countries like India. MARAD seems to be attempting to engineer a precedent so that the rest of the hazardous ships can be shifted to India in order to help ship owners escape decontamination cost.
I had written a letter to Liau Siew Leng Operation Manager, Kiribati Ship Registry, Singapore with copies marked to concerned officials in Union Environment Ministry & Forests and Union Steel Ministry to confirm ship's registry who responded back with documentary proof that the ship in question is not registered with Kiribati Ship Registry. Notably, US Environment Protection Agency (USEPA) has already penalized teh ship for violating its US Toxic Substances Control Act. The USEPA order dated 28 January, 2009 available at http://www.ban.org/Library/Global_CAFO.pdf that has barred the ship Platinum II (formerly SS Oceanic, SS Independence) from leaving US waters for scrapping of the ship. The USEPA statement dated 29th January, 2009 on the conviction of the ship is available at http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/ab2d81eb088f4a7e85257359003f5339/8e2829ba962e93528525754d0061d10c!OpenDocument
If our environment ministry's order dated 9th November, 2009, USEPA statement dated 29th January, 2009 and the fake and sample of original documents submitted (attached) to all the concerned officials are taken cognisance of, it would emerge that the dead US ship must be asked to leave Indian waters in the same way as had happened in the case of the French ship Le Clemenceau.
Also the entire episode seems to build up a case for the investigation of documents of more than 200 ships that came to Alang (post September 6, 2007 order of the Supreme Court) to stop this malpractice and to bring the culprits who are making fake certificates of the post of registry and the connving officials to book.
I would be happy to share more information if required.
warm regards
Gopal Krishna
Efthimios Mitropoulos, Secretary-General, International Maritime Organization (IMO)
Mitropoulos is from Greece. He is the seventh Secretary-General of the IMO, the UN agency concerned with maritime safety and security and the prevention of marine pollution from ships. He had joined IMO in January 1979 as Implementation Officer in the Maritime Safety Division. In November 2003, Mitropoulos was elected Secretary-General for the period 2004 to 2008. In November 2006, the IMO Council decided to renew his mandate for another 4 years, concluding 31 December 2011. He would be remembered for supritending the adoption of a highly regressive International treaty on ship breaking/recycling that threatens vulnerable migrant workers and fragile coastal environment of beaches in South Asia at the behest of shipping companies & ship owning countries. The treaty is likely to come into force in 2016. He has studied Shipping Economics. Consequently, he seems to have mastered the art of externalization of environmental & occupational health costs for the benefit of the affluent companies & countries.
Otapan case restores a precedent
Restoring Le Clemenceau precedent, on 16 May 2008, a major victory was won by the environmental groups as the saga of the controversial ship Otapan finally came to a happy ending as it sailed after decontamination from Amsterdam to the Turkish shipbreaking yards of Aliaga, Turkey near Izmir. The Otapan has a stirring history. Since 1999 the ship was in the Netherlands. In 2001, crew members were caught illegally and dangerously removing asbestos from the ship in the port of Amsterdam. The Dutch ended up seizing the ship. In 2006 the former State Secretary Van Geel gave a permit for export to Turkey. While the ship was on its way to Turkey, Greenpeace Netherlands discovered that the license and the inventory on board listing hazardous wastes was incorrect. The Platform alerted Turkey and the government refused the ship. Despite a special visit to Ankara and an appeal by Van Geel, the Turkish government insisted on a full pre-cleaning and the Otapan came back to the Netherlands.
S S Blue Lady (SS Norway, SS France)
By every rule in the book, this ship, carrying asbestos waste and radioactive elements, should not be in Indian waters, let alone be beached. And yet, despite well-premised objections, the central government persuaded the Supreme Court to rule that Blue Lady be dismantled at Alang. A classic case of ship owners like Norwegian Cruise Liner (Star Cruise) escaping the decontamination cost & transferring the harm with German connivance & dismantling the Le Clemenceau precedent.
Le Clemenceau, the controversial French air craft carrier
Le Clemenceau, once a symbol of France's naval might, arrived at the Able UK dock on Teesside, northern England on February 8, 2009. The stripped-out hulk will be broken up, three years after the vessel was recalled by the French President following a French court order. Following a successful campaign in India and France by Indian & French environmental groups, it had to return to the port of Brest after failing to find a foreign country willing to dismantle its asbestos-contaminated hull. In India, the ship would have been dismantled on a sea beach by migrant and casual workers in the most vulnerable conditions of safety. Able UK is the firm responsible for this largest ship-breaking contract in Europe although Friends of Hartlepool, a local UK group has reservations about its competence.
Scrapping of Riky (Danish ferry Kong Frederik IX)
First, a ship with dubious credentials leaves the shores of Denmark. Then a month later, India allows it to beach at Alang, Gujarat's massive shipbreaking yard, for scrapping. In between, it gets a new name and rules are flouted to let it in. Unlike Clemenceau, Riky sailed through the both international and national law. In this file photo taken by AP on April 26, 2005, a worker walks on the beach as the former Danish ferry Kong Frederik IX, renamed Riky, lies out in the sea at the Alang Ship Breaking Yard, around 265 kilometers (166 miles) south of Ahmadabad, India.
G.K. Vasan, Union Minister of Shipping
Vasan's Ministry that has underlined formulation of "a policy on environment-friendly ship-breaking" as one of the six key policy issues must take note that there are “many hidden liabilities that have not been addressed” in the proposed shipbreaking treaty by IMO. The ship breaking/recycling industry was consulted in a meeting held on 23rd April 2009 and the stand of the Indian Government was decided based on consensus arrived at during that meeting. The significant areas which were debated and decision taken included the Ship Recycling Plan, receiving tankers for re-cycling with certification as safe-for-entry and safe-for-hot work, ‘Beaching method’ of ship recycling being followed in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan etc. Based on industry's demand India had proposed for inclusion of warships within the scope of the IMO Convention, which has not been agreed upon, on the pretext that, none of the IMO Conventions have the provision for warships and same can be included. The shipbreaking industry is seeking its inclusion in a national legislation as necessary. At present in India the ship breaking activity is regulated by the directives of the Supreme Court of India in their ruling in W.P. (Civil) No. 657 of 1995 vide Order dated 6th September, 2007. A draft Ship Recycling Code is being formulated by the Ministry of Steel, which takes into account the following:- (i) the directions contained in the Supreme Court Order of 2007, (ii) the recommendations of Technical Experts Committee (set up by the Supreme Court), and ; (iii) the requirements of various stakeholders, which include the concerned Ministries/ Departments, Port authorities, Pollution Control Boards and Recycling Industry. Notably, despite the same court order seeking involvement of environmental and labour organisations till date neither the concerned Ministry of Steel nor the Ministry of Shipping has deemed their participation as relevant. The civil society groups feel that IMO's adopted text of the treaty on ship recycling is anti- worker and anti-environment.
Beni Prasad Verma, Union Steel Minister
The subject matter of ship breaking at present remains with the Ministry of Steel as per the list of subjects allocated to the Ministry of Steel, under the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961, the Ministry of Steel will oversee implementation of the proposed Code on Ship Recycling Regulations. Ship breaking activities are reported to cause fall in the steel prices as hundreds of tonnes of scrap steel gets added to the steel supplies in India. More than 600 ships are available for breaking in the international market due to the present recessionary scenario. Each of these ships weighs about 10,000 tonnes to 30,000 tonnes depending upon the capacity. In the wake of this fact, the ship breaking yard is estimated to recover nearly 12 lakh tonnes of scrap steel this year, which is almost double than the previous year. A comprehensive Code on Ship Recycling Regulations is still under preparation by the Shipbreaker Association although Supreme Court had asked the ministry to prepare it. Draft Code has now been prepared. The apex court appointed Inter-Ministerial Committee on Shipbreaking under Union Ministry of Steel has already circulated the draft to the relevant ministries after it has been prepared by the Shipbreakers Association. With the increased availability of scrap steel, which is cost-effective input for rolling mills, the small mills would be able to reduce rebar price. The Joint Plant Committee of Ministry of Steel releases the data on Indian consumption of finished steel. The Supreme Court has reiterated its 14th October 2003 order in the September 6, 2007 order directing that "An Inter-Ministerial Committee comprising Ministry of Surface Transport, Ministry of Steel, Ministry of Labor and Ministry of Environment and Forests should be constituted with the involvement of labor and environment organizations and representatives of the shipbreaking industry" but the same has not be done because of the involvement of labor and environment organizations has not been ensured. This is in violation of the court's directives. Import of ships destined for recycling under this Code shall be subject to the Import and Export Policy of the Government of India as well as various provisions laid down under various Acts/Rules as amended from time to time. At present such import is permitted under Open General License vide tariff item 89.08. Department of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance in consultation with World Customs Organization vide circular No.37/96 dated 3rd July, 1996 has clarified that, apart from the ship, what all contained in the ship such as spares etc. are also covered under tariff item 89.08
Pranab Mukherjee, Union Finance Minister
Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) that comes under Finance Ministry can bring order in the Alang ship breaking industry. So far Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on shipbreaking had failed to regulate it. But when IMC Chairman, S. Machendranathan, Additional Secretary & Financial Adviser, Ministry of Steel held its meeting in Alang with Dr Dalip Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel & other relevant officials on 17th September, 2010, it appeared that things are all set to change in Alang. It would be apt if the IMC invites DGCEI officials as well in IMC's next meeting. The shipbreakers met Mukherjee with the assistance of Ahmed Patel.
Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Environment & Forests
Ramesh's most recent decision in the matter of dead US ship Platinum II (SS Oceanic, SS Independence) has re-established precautionary principles which were eroded by the previous regime. Earlier, when the findings of an independent visit to the Alang Beach, Bhavnagar, Gujarat along with villagers & fishermen from Alang and surrounding areas were shared in July 2009 pointing out illegal appropriation of Beach land , illegal dumping of wastes on beaches, illegal dumping of hazardous materials like asbestos in the agricultural fields, illegal dumping of wastes & chemicals in the sea, radioactive materials in the ships, disappearance of certain species of fishes, brutal treatment of some 45000 migrant workers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and, Orissa, their living condition and their worst enviro-occupational health situation and illegal sand mining on the beach, the minister promptly responded saying, "this is most useful and i will initiate action immediately."
A.K. Antony, Union Defence Minister
Directorate of Naval Intelligence has warned that “A large number of cash buyers (who buy these condemned ships against cash) are Pak nationals based at London/UAE. Due to large profit margins, Dawood group appears to have invested heavily in Cash Buyers thus having a stake in most deals.” It had recommended that all end-of-life vessels must get Defence Ministry clearance. The Ministry is yet to act on the recommendation.
No comments:
Post a Comment