Asbestos, Other Toxic Wastes Contaminate Aging Oceangoing "Ghost Ships"

In October 2004, the parties to the Basel Convention affirmed that aging oceangoing ships, often called "ghost ships," were to be considered toxic waste under international law. Because of environmental contamination, the ships cannot be exported to be dismantled. These ships are typically contaminated with asbestos, PCBs, mercury, lead, waste fuel oil and other toxic substances that can pollute the air, water and soil in shipyards where these vessels would be taken apart.

Once ship breaking was stopped in Europe, the ships were often sent to India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey and China, where laborers would break down the vessels to recover steel and other valuable materials.

In 2006, the Convention sponsored a feasibility study to determine effective measures to promote the implementation of technical guidelines for full and partial dismantling of ships. The Convention shared the results of the study with the nations that still undertake ship breaking of asbestos-contaminated ships.

Exposure to asbestos, a dangerous carcinogen (cancer-causing) substance is known to cause serious illnesses such as mesothelioma cancer, asbestos-related lung cancer and asbestosis. Because of the long latency period (the time between exposure and when symptoms of illness first appear) is decades long, those exposed in early adulthood may not show symptoms of an asbestos-related disease until they are close to retirement age.

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