BANGALORE - A ship of United States origin that is reportedly carrying toxic substances and headed for dismantling in India's ship-breaking yards, is caught in a storm. Environmentalists are up in arms over the ship not being detoxified at its port of origin in the US and want the ship to be sent back.

A former luxury liner, the 18,503-tonne Platinum-II is currently anchored near Gopnath, some 40 nautical miles from its destination, Alang, the hub of India's ship-breaking industry in the western Indian state of Gujarat.

According to the Indian Platform on Shipbreaking (IPOS), a coalition of environmental, labor, health and human-rights activists, Platinum-II contains about 210 tons of materials contaminated by toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and some 200 tons of asbestos-containing materials, along with

radioactive substances. PCBs and asbestos are known to cause various cancers. Domestic production of PCBs has been banned in the US since 1976.

The Indian government has sent a three-member team to inspect Platinum-II. The team is expected to submit a report regarding the extent of contaminated material on board the ship to the government on Friday.

This is not the first time that a ship regarded as toxic has been headed to Alang. Several hundreds of ageing vessels - many of them rich in hazardous material - end up on Alang's beach before being torn apart by unskilled and ill-equipped laborers. The metal is then sold on as scrap.

In 2006, two ships Le Clemenceau and Blue Lady, which were heading to Alang for scrapping, ran into trouble when environmentalists drew attention to their highly hazardous contents.

While Clemenceau was eventually recalled by the French government, Blue Lady, which had close to 1,700 tons of hazardous material - two-and-a-half times more than that in the Clemenceau - was permitted by India's Supreme Court to beach and be scrapped at Alang provided strict guidelines were followed to ensure worker safety. Greenpeace maintains that the Alang's yards do not have the technology to safely dismantle these contaminated ships.

Platinum-II was originally known as Independence and then renamed Oceanic in 2006. It was named Platinum-II more recently. As the luxury liner Independence, this ship was much celebrated. It was given the Ship of the Year award in 2000 by the Steamship Historical Society of America. It is only in the last couple of years when the question of the fate of this aged liner came up that its name was sullied.

In February 2008, Oceanic sailed out of San Francisco on its last voyage. Its fate and destination was not known. While some felt it would be converted into a floating hotel or casino, speculation was rife that it was heading to one of South Asia's "graveyard of ships" as ship-breaking yards are known. Nothing was done to stop the Oceanic from leaving US waters although the export of PCBs is banned under US law.

Early this year, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) slapped fines of around US$518,500 on Oceanic's owners, Global Shipping and Global Marketing Systems, for illegal distribution and export of a ship containing PCBs.

But the Oceanic was not recalled to the US.

Activists have pointed out that toxic, privately owned US vessels have been able to sail out unhindered for scrapping in South Asia - in violation of US environmental laws - after they flew new flags (re-flagging) or registered under a new foreign owner. The Christian Science Monitor reported in 2008 that over an eight-year period since 2000, at least 91 commercial vessels flying the US flag, including aged oil tankers, were re-flagged and sailed out for scrapping. It is not known whether these vessels were checked for PCBs before they sailed out.

Oceanic managed to sail out despite carrying PCBs because of poor coordination between two US agencies - the Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the EPA. "The EPA didn't ask about re-flagged ships - and MARAD didn't tell its sister agency when re-flagging applications for ships likely to carry PCBs popped up," the Christian Science Monitor reported. Apparently EPA did not know that Oceanic, like several aged ships before it, was leaving for scrapping. It was environmentalists who raised the alarm. But by the time they did, the Oceanic had slipped away.

The Oceanic is said to have hovered around Dubai in the United Arab Emirates for over a year. It was then registered in Liberia under its latest name Platinum-II and under a fictitious company. It is believed that the recent renaming of the ship was part of an elaborate effort to hide the ship's real identity while approaching officials in Gujarat for permission to beach in Alang.

The ploy worked, at least initially. Platinum-II was given clearance by the Gujarat Maritime Board, the Gujarat Pollution Control Board and Customs to anchor. But IPOS intervention and the letter it shot off to the federal Ministry of Environment and Forests has thrown Platinum-II's fate into choppy waters.

There are vested interests, including the Gujarat government, who would like to see Platinum-II beached at Alang. A single ship can be worth $5 million in scrap steal. This is profit its owners will not allow to slip away easily. Besides, there are the many subsidiary businesses that thrive from the dismantling of the various parts of the ship, including its furniture, fittings and machinery. Laborers too are looking forward to the work and income it will provide. The Blue Lady is said to have provided work to around 4,000 laborers. A similar number can be expected to benefit from Platinum-II .

However, the monetary gains come at a very heavy cost that workers and the environment have to bear. Unlike in the West, ship breaking in South Asia is labor intensive. Workers dismantle the ship with hand tools, which means that toxic substances like mercury and asbestos seep through their skin and into the ground and water. The impact is deadly. A 2006 report found that one in six workers at Alang show symptoms of asbestosis, a fatal illness.

If the report of the three-member investigation team says that Platinum-II is indeed hazardous, carrying toxic material that does not meet Indian government guidelines, will the US government recall it? It was public and legal pressure at home that finally pushed the French government to call back Le Clemenceau in 2006. Environmentalists are hoping that Platinum-II's fate will go the Le Clemenceau way.

Even as environmentalists prepare for a long battle ahead to prevent Platinum-II from being driven aground on the beaches of Alang, there are reports that two more ships - Bonny and Anders, formerly Bonnyman and Anderson - of similar vintage and therefore of similar toxicity - could be making their way to South Asian "graveyards".

Although following the experience with Oceanic, MARAD and EPA set up new procedures that require MARAD to inform EPA of ships applying for re-flagging or scrapping - it is only after EPA gives its consent that the ship can be re-flagged - aged toxic ships are still able to find cracks in laws to slip through.

When Bonnyman and Anderson applied to MARAD for re-flagging, EPA was alerted as per the new procedure. Initially the EPA seemed to be of the view that the two ships contained PCBs. In a letter to the ships' new owners, EPA said that PCBs had been found on "vessels of similar vintage as the MV Anderson and Bonnyman".

But in a surprising subsequent turnaround, EPA says that neither ship is likely to have PCBs. "Based on available information, including lack of evidence that these ships are likely to contain PCBs, EPA has determined that there is not a sufficient basis to detain them or take other legal action at this time," an EPA statement said. The Danish government had apparently clarified that the ship was built in Denmark in 1979-80. PCBs were unlikely to have been used in its construction as "Danish law prohibited the 'open application' of PCBs in 1977". Environmentalists are not impressed by the Danish claims.

Bonny and Anders, which carried the US flag till recently, are now flying the St Kitts and Nevis flag. Both left Norfolk in Virginia end-August. While the US Coast Guard listed the ships' next port of call as Santos in Brazil and EPA claims that they are not going to be scrapped, environmental watchdogs are not convinced. They say that the aged vessels are being sent to South Asia to die. And Bangladesh is likely to be their final destination.

A European Commission study on the global ship-scrapping industry estimated in 2007 that hundreds of ships weighing a total of 55 million tons - more than double the volume of the past five years - are waiting to be scrapped. Eighteen million tons of ships are expected to be scrapped in 2010. Many will make their way to South Asia. Environmental groups will need to keep their eyes open.

Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.

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