BANI
UGENT PRESS RELEASE
30 June 2006
New Evidence Confirm Star Cruises and Norwegian Cruise
Lines Deceived German Authorities
to Dispose of the Toxic Laden SS Norway to
India
Brussels; New Delhi; 30 June 2006:
The NGO Platform on Shipbreaking, a global coalition of human rights and
environmental groups working to uphold environmental justice, released a report
today revealing new evidence that the third largest cruise operator in the
world, Star Cruises Ltd and its subsidiary, Norwegian Cruise Lines, withheld
vital information from German authorities, when they sought permission to allow
their toxic waste laden vessel, the SS Norway, to depart from the Port of
Bremerhaven on 25 May 2005 to Asia.
The Report reveals that as early as December 2004, SCL and NCL formed the
intent to dispose of the vessel, which they did not disclose to German
authorities, and instead claimed that the SS Norway was going to Asia for
repairs.
The Report entitled, “Star Cruises Ltd and Norwegian
Cruise Lines: Deceiving Germany and Violating International Law in the Export of
the SS Norway to India”, uncovered information disclosed in NCL’s 2005 Annual
Report submitted to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on 28
March 2006, explaining how NCL reduced the value of the SS Norway by as much as US$14.5 million in a span
of months in 2004, diminishing the SS
Norway to a scrap value of US$12.3 million. The public disclosure further reveals
that by December 2004, NCL’s management concluded that the sale of the SS Norway
to a third party for re-use was not likely.
Citing confidential
information from Pierre & Vacances, a French company, who in 2004 was able
to requisition a study of the asbestos content of the vessel using the SS
Norway’s ship plans and documents furnished by NCL, the Report confirms the
presence of at least 1,200 tonnes of asbestos in the SS Norway. The confidential information also
affirmed that at least EUR 17 million would be needed to partially decontaminate
the asbestos in the vessel, more than the SS Norway’s scrap value. These facts, the Report asserts, puts
into context the deception perpetrated by NCL and SCL in
2005.
“Lying to the
German authorities in order to pass on tonnes of toxic wastes to unsuspecting
workers in India or Bangladesh, and laying waste to the environment of South
Asia is an indication of how morally bankrupt the people running Star Cruises
are”, says Ingvild Jenssen, coordinator of the NGO Platform. “The management and the Board of Directors of
these companies should be held criminally and civilly accountable by the German
government for their actions.”
This is not the
first time that NCL lied to government authorities to cover up an environmental
crime. On July 31, 2002 the US
Department of Justice issued a press release, entitled “Norwegian Cruise Line
Admits to Environmental Crime”. In
the release, the US DOJ stated that NCL “admitted that it engaged in a practice
of systematically lying to the United States Coast Guard over a period of years
regarding the discharge of oil-contaminated bilge waste from the SS Norway and
at least one other ship.” NCL
signed a plea agreement acknowledging the felony violation, paid US$1 million in
criminal fines and cooperated with federal official to resolve the case.[i]
The
release of the findings of the NGO Platform was timed with their submission of a
formal request to the Senator of Building, Environment and Transportation of
Bremen, Mr. Neumeyer, demanding that Germany comply with its international
obligations under the Basel Convention and its Basel Ban Amendment, which
prohibits the export of hazardous wastes from developed nations to poorer
countries, and immediately recall the SS Norway back to Germany to be
decontaminated.
The European
Commission also recently sent a letter to Germany asking for clarifications on
whether the Basel Convention and Council Regulation no. 259/93 have been applied
in the SS Norway case.
The SS Norway, the third largest cruise ship in the
world after the Queen Elizabeth II and the ill-fated Titanic, was the jewel in
the fleet of NCL until August of 2003, when an explosion in her boiler room
killed 8 of her crew, injured 20 others, and left the vessel heavily damaged and
without any propulsion. In March of
2004, NCL President, Mr. Colin Veitch publicly announced that the SS Norway
would no longer ply the North American cruise market, precipitating the cat and
mouse game that NCL and SCL played with various government
authorities.
The NGO Platform raised concerns that the asbestos load
of the SS Norway is only a portion of the problem it presents. Older vessels are known to contain the
persistent organic pollutant, polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs, which are known
to bioaccumulate in the food chain and poison top predators such as humans. PCBs are also known probable human
carcinogens and are slated for globally phase out under the Stockholm Convention
on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
“The dangers
posed by the SS Norway and similar vessels are real. The level of asbestos in the SS Norway
is more than double of the French aircraft carrier Clemenceau, and we still have
no idea how much PCBs, lead, cadmium, mercury and the other toxins are in the SS
Norway,” says Gopal Krishna of Ban Asbestos Network India. “There is a great injustice before us, and
the global community must act quickly and in unison to stop
it.”
-End-
For a copy of the
Report go to: http://www.ban.org/Library/Star_Cruises_Deception_Report_Final.pdf
For more information:
Ban Asbestos Network
India, for situation in India: Gopal
Krishna, + 91
98 180 89 660
krishnagreen@gmail.com
Basel Action Network, for
information on Basel Convention application: Richard
Gutierrez,
+1
(206) 652.5555 rgutierrez@ban.org
NGO Platform on Shipbreaking, for overview: Ingvild Jenssen, coordinator +32 485
190 920 ingvild@bellona.org