Coming back to the ‘Clemenceau Imbroglio’; this story has been making headlines! Greenpeace has been campaigning pro-actively against this decision citing pathetic working conditions & exposure to toxic wastes for the workers who work at Indian & Bangladeshi ship-breaking yards without any protective gear.
This is the second time that the decision to send Clemenceau to India has run into rough weather. Earlier in 2005, the decision had to be stalled due to court cases filed by French environment activists. But this time around, the sail was authorized after claims from the French government that the ship had been de-contaminated. Greenpeace has been insisting that these claims are false and Greenpeace came out with the report on the inhuman working conditions of the workers at the yards.
The estimates of asbestos on board the carrier have been far from complete & helpful, ranging from 50 to 500 tonnes. Greenpeace has been maintaining that the ship is not in line with the Basel International treaty on movement of hazardous waste.
For those of you who are not aware, Alang is the world’s largest ship-breaking yard situated on the beaches of Gujarat, India. As per some reports, currently there are 15 ships being dismantled at Alang employing over 40,000 workers, and with phasing out of single hull tankers, about 1,500 ships will be ready to be scrapped in the next two years.
With the Indian Environment Ministry saying that Clemenceau will not be turned away, a Supreme Court committee on hazardous waste was asked to meet and decide on the carrier. In the first week of January 2006, the SCMC had asked the ship to change course and stay away from Indian waters until the information was clear and helpful. Gujarat government has been maintaining that it will wait for the papers to come from France before reacting, as it cannot allow more than 25 tonnes of asbestos on the ship.
By this time, the carrier had been turned back by Greece & done a turnaround from Turkey as well. Egypt, initially refused passage to the carrier through the Suez Canal, and asked for the certificates. Later, the passage was negotiated through the canal.
The solution seems to be simple; the countries should decontaminate the old ships before they are sent for scrapping. Now, the Indian Supreme Court will take the next decision on the carrier, but by then perhaps, the ship may already be at India's doorstep…
Ship Breaking in India
History of the carrier
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