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the toxic truth
chapter 2
In order to be able to carry out the caustic washing directly on board a ship, Trafigura first needed to purchase caustic soda. In early April 2006, Trafigura approached Univar, a supplier in the US.64 An email to Univar dated 6 April 2006 described the process that Trafigura intended to undertake, and gave some details about disposal of the waste:
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This gasoline component will be washed (removal of mercaptans) with the caustic soda en-route to final destination port (2/3 days), La Skhirra/Tunisia (North Africa). The Caustic Soda will be allowed to settle and will be drained into a caustic suitable sumptank on arrival at disport which will be taken away by a chemical treatment company for re-treatment/safe 65 disposal.
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The clear implication of this email is that Trafigura intended to have the waste treated in Tunisia. However, Univar was only willing to supply caustic soda on receipt of contact details for the chemical treatment company that would dispose of the waste once it arrived in Tunisia.66 Univar also warned Trafigura that the product would be “hazardous” and that Dangerous Goods Certification would be required.67
THE PROBO KOALA The Probo Koala was what is known as a “Products Ore-Bulk-Oil” vessel that transports ores, hydrocarbons or other bulk cargoes.56 It was owned by a company based in the Marshall Islands, called Probo Koala Shipping Inc57 and sailed under the Panamanian flag.58 A Greek-based company, Prime Marine Management, appears to have played the role of management company for the ship at the time of the events described in this report.59 Trafigura time-chartered (a form of lease) the Probo Koala on 25 October 2004.60 From 3 April 2006 to 3 October 2006, the Probo Koala was under the control of its master, Captain Chertov.61 A company called Falcon Navigation, Trafigura’s Athens “branch”, was charged with the day-to-day management of the ship and received instructions from Trafigura Ltd and Trafigura Beheer BV.62 After the dumping, the Probo Koala was renamed the Gulf Jash, and in August 2011 it was again renamed the Hua Feng.63
Subsequent internal emails between Trafigura executives suggest that the company was experiencing difficulties in the US with the purchase and loading of caustic soda on to a ship.68 One email suggests that this was because ship owners were reluctant to carry out ship-to-ship (STS) operations in US coastal waters because the mooring arrangement of the ship made these operations:
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too risky in the US with all the USCG [US Coast Guard] 69 attention should something go terrible [sic] wrong.
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Amnesty International and Greenpeace have asked Trafigura to provide more information regarding the operations it was intending to undertake in US coastal waters. The company did not respond. It appears the difficulties of purchasing and loading the caustic soda in the US may have been insurmountable. In any event, Trafigura purchased the caustic soda from a Dutch company called WRT.70 Caustic washing was then conducted on board the Probo Koala.
Flags of convenience The Probo Koala was registered in Panama under a “flag of convenience”. This means that there is no connection between the nationality of the ship’s owner and the nationality of the flag that it flies. Many states that provide flags of convenience have a poor record of enforcing regulations that apply to ships. Greenpeace argues that this must change so that activities on board ships and at sea are better regulated, more transparent and better accounted for.