shipbreaking

Victory: Toxic warship Clemenceau turned back to France

Last edited 15 February 2006 at 9:00am
French military vessel Clemenceau

French military vessel Clemenceau

 

French President Chirac has announced a dramatic recall of the asbestos-laden warship Clemenceau - it will be turning around and going back to France. Our actions, emails to Chirac and an embarrassing international scandal left France with little choice but to abandon the misguided attempt to dump its own toxic mess on India.

"This is a huge victory for the environment, and for the campaign headed up by us and other organisations," said Pascal Husting, Greenpeace France Executive Director.

Article tagged as: Clemenceau, shipbreaking, successes, toxics

Greenpeace boards toxic French aircraft carrier

Last edited 13 January 2006 at 9:00am
13 January, 2006

French military ship loaded with hundreds of tonnes of deadly asbestos boarded by Greenpeace volunteers on route to India

12-01-2006 Greenpeace volunteers intercepted and boarded the French Aircraft carrier, the Clemenceau, raising the stakes in the growing international row over the decommissioning of the Clemenceau, which has been sent to India for decommissioning despite widespread outrage at the high levels of hazardous materials, including hundreds of tonnes of asbestos it contains.

Article tagged as: Clemenceau, french aircraft carrier, press releases, shipbreaking, toxics

Greenpeace welcomes call for state-of-the-art ship recycling facility in UK

Last edited 11 November 2004 at 9:00am
11 November, 2004

On Thursday 11 November the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee will release a report calling for urgent action to eradicate the practice of UK ships being sent to India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China and Turkey for disposal.

Article tagged as: asbestos, DEFRA, PCBs, peter mandelson, press releases, PVC, recycling, shipbreaking, toxics

'Start' ship recycling in Britain

Last edited 23 March 2004 at 9:00am
Publication date: 
21 March, 2007

Publication date: March 2004

Summary
Greenpeace has been campaigning on the issue of shipbreaking for almost 10 years. The campaign has centred on scrapping yards in Bangladesh, Pakistan and in particular the yard in Alang, India. Alang is situated in Gujarat province, in the North West corner of India, 300 miles North of Mumbai on India's North West coast.

Download the report:
Article tagged as: recycling, reports, shipbreaking

Peter Mandelson, Greenpeace and GMB call for state-of-the-art ship recycling in Britain

Last edited 23 March 2004 at 9:00am
23 March, 2004

Peter Mandelson MP, Greenpeace and the GMB today (Tuesday 23rd March) called for a state of the art ship recycling industry to be developed in Britain and for the government to stop British naval ships being broken up on the beaches of Bangladesh and India.

The joint initiative known as 'START Ship Recycling' also called for government action at a European level to ensure that all EU ships are only decommissioned and recycled at specialist European shipyards.

Article tagged as: india, press releases, recycling, shipbreaking, toxics

Greenpeace position on the US ghost ships

Last edited 24 November 2003 at 9:00am

There has recently been considerable attention paid to the issue of scrapping redundant US naval vessels in the UK. The Greenpeace view is the following:

1. The UK should not import vessels for scrapping from other countries which have the technical ability to deal with their own vessels at high environmental standards. In the case of the US there is clearly the ability to scrap vessels in the country of origin to a high standard and this should be done. No further US vessels should be sent to the UK for scrapping.

Article tagged as: ghost ships, pollution, press releases, shipbreaking, toxics

Exporting 'ghost fleets' can stop this week

Last edited 24 November 2003 at 9:00am
24 November, 2003

Greenpeace calls on International Maritime Organisation to agree to mandatory controls on shipbreaking

Today (24th November) sees the start of the two week long annual meeting of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in London (1).

Greenpeace is urging IMO delegates to strengthen and improve regulations covering the breaking of end-of-life ships, such as the US 'ghost ships'.

Article tagged as: IMO, pollution, press releases, shipbreaking, toxics

Victory at the IMO

Last edited 24 November 2003 at 9:00am

The International Maritime Organisation has decided not to expel Greenpeace for "unsafe seamanship". The charges - made by flag of convenience states and other targets of Greenpeace direct actions, were discussed at an IMO meeting on 21 November.

Prior to the meeting, thousands of cyberactivists from around the world sent messages of protest to selected delegations that were wavering or supporting our eviction.

In the final forty-eight hours before Friday's meeting, member states began to express their support explicitly.

Article tagged as: IMO, press releases, shipbreaking, ships, toxics

Out of site, out of mind: Hypocrisy over toxic ships

Last edited 14 November 2003 at 9:00am

Royal Naval ships from Britain are being scrapped in developing countries, with no regard for the environment or the health of the people employed to dismantle them.

At the same time, the Britsh Government acted quickly to make sure ghost ships' from the US were stopped from being scrapped in UK waters. This is blatant hypocrisy - Britain should look after its own toxic ships, just as the US should deal with its own ghost fleet.

Article tagged as: india, press releases, shipbreaking, toxics

UK Government guilty of hypocrisy over toxic ships

Last edited 14 November 2003 at 9:00am
14 November, 2003

The Government was condemned today for operating a double standard over the breaking of naval ships in Britain. The Government and Environment Agency acted quickly to stop the breaking of the so-called 'ghost ships' from the US while simultaneously exporting old Royal Naval vessels abroad to be broken under appalling conditions.

Article tagged as: press releases, shipbreaking, toxics