Maritime Incidents--October 15, 2009
Iran Uses German Ship to Transport Arms
American soldiers in the Gulf of Suez discovered containers of ammunition aboard the German-owned cargo ship Hansa India, allegedly in transit to Syria from Iran.
U.S. soldiers boarded the ship, which is registered to the Hamburg-based shipping company Leonhardt & Blumberg, and found ammunition of 7.62-millimeter bullets, ideal for Kalashnikov rifles and believed to have been for either the Syrian army or Hezbollah.
According to U.S. officials, the arms shipment is in violation of UN Security Resolution 1747, which forbids all weapons shipments to and from Iran.
Two U.S. warships intercepted the cargo ship and after the German government intervened, Americans permitted the ship to dock at Malta where the containers holding the ammunition were secured.
The ship had been under charter to Iran’s state-owned shipping company.
Oil Trader in Legal Battle with Greenpeace
London-based oil trader, Trafigura, is in a legal battle with Greenpeace over the dumping of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast that poisoned thousands and killed 15 in 2006.
In the case, more than 30,000 people were affected by toxic waste that was carried by the Panamanian tanker, Probo Koala where it docked at the port of Abidjan August of 2006. Trafigura may also be facing prosecution in Amsterdam for illegally exporting toxic waste.
According to local accounts, after arriving in Abidjan, trucks carried 400 tons of sludge waste from the tanker to 18 local sites. Over 100,000 Ivorians fell sick in the weeks that followed and 15 died. According to reports from The International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement, and analysis conducted by Amsterdam Port Services BV of the toxins on the tanker before it sailed to Africa, the waste contained about 2 tons of the lethal gas, hydrogen sulphide.
Trafigura agreed to pay $48 million in September, to settle compensation claims. Nevertheless, Greenpeace is continuing its legal action in British courts. The company had already agreed to pay $160 million to the Ivory Coast government for a cleanup operation.
The case highlights a significant global issue related to regulation of transporting dangerous waste cargoes from Europe to Third World countries.