"Not all of the casualties of this toxic trade are known," said Sidiki Kaba, President of FIDH, at the launch, in Geneva, of a new report on ship breaking produced jointly with Greenpeace. The report collects the stories of 110 workers who have died as a result of accidents at ship breaking yards in India and Bangladesh. "The stories represent only the tip of the deadly iceberg, it is estimated that the death toll over the last twenty years runs into the thousands, In addition there is no record of those who died of long term diseases related to toxic exposure."

Workers die and get injured because of the poor implementation of labour rights at the yards in India and Bangladesh, including the lack of protective equipment and restrictions on the right to organise and join trade unions. When they die, they leave their widows and children without any income.

End of life ships, when they are not pre-cleaned, should be treated like any other toxic material under the Basel Convention. Basel bans the dumping of toxic waste by OECD countries in non-OECD countries. However, the shipping industry and the IMO, fearing that ships become subject to a strict environmental justice regime, claim that the Basel Convention has no competence over waste ships.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the Basel Convention and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) will meet during the next three days to discuss ways to bring the ship breaking industry under control. While the IMO has resisted any attempt to loosen its grip on all ship related regulation and bring the industry under the control of the Basel Convention. As a concession, earlier this month, the IMO announced plans to develop a new treaty on ship scrapping. However, it will not come into effect for at least another five years and is likely to place the burden of responsibility for hazardous waste on the developing country where breaking yards are, and not on the ship owners or developed countries. (2)

By waiting, the IMO is deliberately exempting a massive flood of toxic single-hulled tankers that will be phased out in the next 5 years from any new regulations. FIDH, Greenpeace and YPSA demand immediate action to prevent further deaths.

"The shipping industry is happy to continue to send undecontaminated end of life ships - with asbestos, other hazardous waste and dangerous gasses in their structure and tanks - to places where workers and the environment are not protected and without taking any measure to prevent fatal accidents and pollution" said Marietta Harjono of Greenpeace International.(4)

"While the talking continues so does the dying," said Harjono. This weeks discussions must conclude at a minimum that until the IMO provides new regulations for shipbreaking, the ILO Guidelines on shipbreaking and the Basel Convention should be applied." (5)

Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organisation that uses non-violent creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems to drive solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.

For more information and copies of the report and supporting documents go to www.greenpeace.org

Greenpeace, Marietta Harjono in Geneva, +31 6 15007411
FIDH, Gaël Grilhot, in Paris, +33 1 43 55 25 18
Young Power in Social Action (YPSA), Arifur Rahman, Director, in Geneva, +31 6 15007411

Photo and Video:
Photos available from John Novis, Greenpeace Photo Desk + 31653819121
Video available from Michael Nagasaka, Greenpeace Video Desk + 31646166309

(1) "END OF LIFE SHIPS - the human cost of breaking ships", December 2005. FIDH/Greenpeace (in cooperation with Young Power in Social Action, YPSA, in Bangladesh):

(2) IMO Assembly - 24th session: 21 November - 2 December 2005. Greenpeace and others denounced the new IMO instrument which will place the burden of hazardous waste on developing countries, and for promoting standards far weaker than the existing Basel Convention. The obligations of the 1989 Basel Convention and its 1995 Basel Ban Amendment prohibit the export of the waste vessels i f they are not decontaminated and stripped of toxic substances such as asbestos and PCBs by the ship owners or exporting states. The Basel Convention places responsibility on industry and rich nations to prevent and even prohibit the export of hazardous wastes to developing countries, the new IMO legal instrument might place almost all responsibility on the ship breaking countries an d their facilities.

(3) As the report went to print, on December 3rd, three more people lost their lives in the Sagorika ship breaking yard in Bangladesh: Rofiqul Islam (33), Md Siddique (40) and Abul Kalam (35). All died of suffocation when they inhaled carbon monoxide in the lower deck of a bulk carrier called MV Star. According to local police and other sources the Star should have been made gas free for hot work before it was sent to Bangladesh for breaking.

(4) Later today, some 200 people, from shipbreaking workers, students, doctors, teachers, civilians to NGOs will near the shipbreaking yards in Bangladesh commemorate the workers in Bangladesh who lost their lives due to shipbreaking activities. Organised by Young Power in Social Action, this funeral event will include the formation of a human chain and hold a three minute silence when candles will be lit and floated out to sea in memory of the dead.

(5) Today, in Geneva, Greenpeace, FIDH and YPSA will present a joint declaration signed by 20 international and national human right, environmental and health NGOs and trade unions to representatives of the IMO, the ILO and the Basel Convention demanding immediate measures to prevent further deaths and pollution.

For joint declaration go to: joint declaration