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Wednesday, November 04, 2015

Imminent entry of end of life Norwegian ship BOW VICTOR (IMO No. 8416322) in Indian waters

To

Shri Prakash Javadekar
Union Minister of State for Environment, Forests & Climate Change
Government of India
New Delhi

Date: 3rd November, 2015

Subject- Imminent entry of Norwegian ship BOW VICTOR (IMO No. 8416322) in Indian waters at Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh in violation of Hon’ble Supreme Court’s order, Shipbreaking Code 2013 and Basel Convention
Sir,

This is to draw your urgent attention towards the imminent entry of an end-of- life Norwegian ship BOW VICTOR (IMO No. 8416322) in Indian water at Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh based on the information gathered from Brussels based NGO Shipbreaking Platform. The picture of the obsolete ship is attached. 

We submit that the ship was outside Madagascar on 22nd October, sailing at 11-12 knots, it will take 11-12 days to reach Kakinada, depending on weather conditions. This means the ship is likely to arrive at the port on one of these days as per the information of Norway based The Bellona Foundation.

We submit that entry of this end-of-life vessel, a oil/chemical tanker in Indian waters will be in violation of Hon’ble Supreme Court’s order, Shipbreaking Code 2013 and UN’s Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.

We submit that the ministry officials ought to ensure that the end-of-life vessel in question does not present a situation of fait accompli to the law enforcement agencies by anchoring and beaching without compliance with the Shipbreaking Code 2013, relevant Hon’ble Court’s order and Basel Convention.

ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA) which as been working on the issue of hazardous wastes and ship breaking for over a decade appreciates and endorses your ministry’s position in the inter-ministerial Ship Breaking Scrap Committee, Ministry of Shipping wherein it was stated that “as a matter of policy they are not in favour of ship recycling industry breaking foreign ships in the country.”

In view of the above, we submit that India being a party to the Basel Convention, our government ought to take the necessary action and maintain its legal competency over end-of-life ships in order to avoid destruction of its coastal environment.

Thanking You

Yours faithfully
Gopal Krishna
ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA)
Mb: 08227816731, 09818089660

Cc
Shri Susheel Kumar, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change
Shri Shashi Shekhar, Special Secretary, Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change & Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)
Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh
Shri Barun Mitra, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Shipping, Chairman, Ship Breaking Scrap Committee
Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change
Shri A.C.R. Das, Consultant, Union Ministry of Steel

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