MG Environment Newsletter Intro

In case you missed it, a ship coming from Albania has been flouting international law on trafficking hazardous waste. The ship left Albania, travelled through South Africa and was making its way to Thailand via Singapore. 

But international watchdog, the Basel Action Network (BAN) flagged to South African authorities that the ship was coming and that it needed to be searched and seized. 

The ship had not sought permission to transit in South African waters but said it would not dock and only pass through the exclusive economic zone on its way to the East. South Africa’s team alerted the relevant authorities to stop the ship.

The Maersk ship then turned off its locator transmitter and went missing before appearing in Singapore. The company has denied carrying toxic waste, saying they would not have carried the containers if they knew it had dangerous substances. 

For the crew to turn off locator transmissions for as long as it did was frowned upon majorly by environmental groups, some questioning the ship’s legality. 

In the latest update, which Sheree Bega has been following, Maersk announced that it would repatriate hundreds of tonnes of suspected toxic waste headed for Thailand back to Europe.

It will be returned to Albania so the country can deal with the hazardous waste that was on board these ships. 

Read more about the fascinating story below.

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Ozayr Patel | Climate & Environment Editor |  @Ozayr8