Changing slug, includes material from eca 038

Deutsche Presse Agentur
Published: Friday September 8, 2006

Riga- A ship held responsible for a toxic spill which killed three people in Ivory Coast entered a Latvian port on Friday en route for Estonia, causing environmental safety concerns there. "The Probo Koala will be under very special treatment when it comes into (the Estonian port of) Paldiski," Allan Gromov of the Estonian Environment Ministry told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The Probo Koala, a Panamanian-registered tanker chartered by Dutch shipper Trafigura Beheer BV, unloaded several hundred tons of toxic petrol waste in the Ivorian capital Abidjan two weeks ago.

The waste found its way onto city rubbish dumps, leaking fumes that killed three people and made more than 1500 ill. The scandal led to the collapse of the Ivorian government earlier this week.

Now the ship is docked in the Baltic port of Ventspils, Latvia's largest outlet for Russian oil and petrol, a port spokesman said. He would not comment on the ship's activities in port.

Latvian authorities have not reacted to the ship's presence. The National Environmental Protection Agency said it was aware of the visit, but maintains it is a case for the regional environmental authority.

It, in turn, maintains the ship is the responsibility of Marine Environment Board. A spokeswoman for this institution told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa, it had not been aware of the ship's visit.

The situation is very different in Estonia, where news of the vessel's planned arrival at the small western port of Paldiski on Saturday has caused consternation.

"The Marine Department of the Environment Administration is aware of the situation, and will keep a close eye on matters," said Allan Gromov of the Estonian Environment Ministry.

According to his sources, the ship is due to enter Paldiski on Saturday with a cargo of petrol from Ventspils port.

As the ship makes waves in the Baltic, meanwhile, doctors and politicians in Ivory Coast are still dealing with the aftermath of its toxic and lethal visit there.

A Dutch press report Friday said the vessel had attempted to discharge its cargo in Amsterdam in July.

The daily Volkskrant reported that the Probo Koala began pumping waste to a processing facility operated by Amsterdam Port Services (APS) but that the resulting smell led to the operation being halted.

APS director T Smit said the company involved, Trafigura Beheer, had described the waste as slop - water with soda used to clean out oil tanks - but that it had given off a powerful "rotten eggs" smell.

"We can process this, but it costs more," Smit told the Volkskrant. Dutch Environment Ministry officials inspected the tanker but allowed it to leave for Estonia.

The Probo Koala is reported to be leased by Trafigura Beheer, a company that maintains its administrative office in the Netherlands.

The Ivory Coast Government resigned Wednesday over the illegal dumping of waste around Abidjan. Three people are reported to have died as a result, two of them children.

Up to 1,500 people are reported to have suffered breathing difficulties as a result of the fumes, which are thought to have contained hydrogen sulphide, a gas that smells like rotten eggs.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agenteur