Why do people do not care about nature
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A shipbreaking company is set to illegally import a highly toxic ship for scrapping, risking workers' health and environmental damage.

The ship, once used for storing oil by offshore oil and gas companies, is an end-of-life floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel named J

Now it is coming to Bangladesh from Indonesia carrying toxic waste contaminated with mercury, according to lab results obtained by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform.

It left Batam, Indonesia, on April 18 and is due to reach the Bangladeshi coast on May 7, according to satellite information sent by the ship and published on maritime databases.

The vessel is flying the flag of convenience of Palau, an offshore tax haven in the Pacific Ocean.

It is being towed by Indian company Prayati Shipping Pvt Ltd's tug S CAS (IMO 8411047), said the Platform.

Documents obtained by The Daily Star show the vessel contains around 1,500 tonnes of mercury-contaminated waste, 60 tonnes of sludge oil, 1,000 tonnes of slop oil, and 500 tonnes of oily water on board.

Samples of this sludge have revealed mercury levels of 395mg/kg, according to lab results obtained by NGO Shipbreaking Platform. The Hazardous Waste and Ship-breaking Waste Management Rules list mercury and mercury compounds as hazardous if their concentration exceeds 50 mg/kg.

If dumped in Bangladesh, the waste will pose a serious threat to environment.

Like other end-of-life ships, J Nat also has toxins such as Polychlorinated Biphenyls, asbestos and other different heavy metals within its structures.

NGO Shipbreaking Platform issued a briefing paper on J Nat titled "Export of toxic vessel in breach of international law" on April 19.

The paper states that Indonesian authorities appear not to have informed Bangladesh about the presence of hazardous wastes and materials in the vessel in violation of article VI of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal.

The convention requires the exporting country to notify and obtain consent from all importing and transit countries about the quantities and types of the materials.

However, the Department of Environment (DoE), which issues clearance certificates for scrap vessels in Bangladesh, is not aware of J Nat's import.

"Generally, the shipbreaking yard owners contact us for permission once the ship reaches Bangladesh. We physically examine the ship and then give a clearing certificate for scrapping," Mohammad Moazzem Hossain, director of DoE Chattogram (regional), told The Daily Star last Tuesday.

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