I got a call from an old contact in the shipping industry last week. He wanted to tip me off to something. He said two US government ships had been sold and were going to be scrapped in a deal that sidestepped the country’s rules on toxic exports.
I started looking at this with Rajesh Joshi, a journalist based in New York. We pulled together a story that spans from the US to Bangladesh via London and Dubai.
The Basel Action Network, an environmental group that campaigns to stop illicit shipments of waste, said it had evidence that the ships were going to be scrapped in India or Bangladesh, where ships normally end their lives. The owner - represented by a company involved in ship scrapping - denied it and said the vessels would be traded. The US authorities, meanwhile, washed their hands of the lot and let the ships sail through a loophole. It's a bizarre situation.
Read our initial story here, and another in the Christian Science Monitor. Read too BAN’s subsequent statement, which includes links to hard documents.
One of the ships is currently on its way to Brazil, where it will likely pick up cargo. The campaigners suspect it will then sail to India or Bangladesh, unload, and head for the scrap beach.
I started looking at this with Rajesh Joshi, a journalist based in New York. We pulled together a story that spans from the US to Bangladesh via London and Dubai.
The Basel Action Network, an environmental group that campaigns to stop illicit shipments of waste, said it had evidence that the ships were going to be scrapped in India or Bangladesh, where ships normally end their lives. The owner - represented by a company involved in ship scrapping - denied it and said the vessels would be traded. The US authorities, meanwhile, washed their hands of the lot and let the ships sail through a loophole. It's a bizarre situation.
Read our initial story here, and another in the Christian Science Monitor. Read too BAN’s subsequent statement, which includes links to hard documents.
One of the ships is currently on its way to Brazil, where it will likely pick up cargo. The campaigners suspect it will then sail to India or Bangladesh, unload, and head for the scrap beach.
This one will have to be revisited soon, no doubt…
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