Updated: Furnace dust target of Basel Action Network intervention

According to the Seattle-based Basel Action Network (BAN), what it describes as a large Maersk container ship carrying an estimated 327 metric tons of what is believed to be hazardous waste containers scheduled to dock in Cape Town, South Africa, has disappeared following BAN’s warning to the South African government. A representative from Maersk, however, denies the allegations.

BAN says the ship, the Maersk Campton, the first of two such ships carrying containers of waste that originated in Albania to Thailand, was scheduled to dock in South Africa. But, following the alert to South Africa, the ship's Automatic Identification System (AIS) GPS beacon was switched off July 31, and it failed to make its scheduled Aug. 1 Cape Town docking. BAN says South Africa reportedly searched diligently for the missing vessel, which remains at large, in their waters for many hours.

According to the International Maritime Organization's SOLAS Convention, the AIS beacon should always be turned on when vessels are underway or anchored. Only in the case of imminent danger when a ship's captain is certain that the continuous signal broadcast compromises the safety and security of the ship can it be switched off. 

However, Maersk Press Officer Povl Rasmussen tells Recycling Today via email, “The vessel Maersk Campton has not called a port in Albania, and it will not call a port in Thailand either.” He adds that the ship did not have a South Africa port call in its schedule either.

Regarding’s BAN’s accusations, he adds, “I do not know how they came to those conclusions.”

Rasmussen confirms that the ship's AIS tracker has been switched off, explaining, “it is not uncommon that some vessel owners decide to do this when heading for a risk zone, e.g., the Arabian Sea/Indian Ocean. Since December, we have seen several vessels owned by different carriers being attacked in connection with the current situation in the Middle East.”

He says the vessel and its sister vessel, Maersk Campton, are U.K.-flagged ships and are not owned by Maersk. “They are, however, chartered by Maersk to carry goods on behalf of Maersk. All goods aboard have been cleared by customs authorities.”

BAN, however, says the transport of hazardous wastes without the approval of the exporting country (Albania) the transit countries (such as South Africa) and the scheduled importing country (Thailand) is illegal waste trafficking under the terms of the Basel Convention and alleges that Albania confirmed it was never informed about the export by the exporter, and Thailand has not received any notification nor has South Africa.

BAN alleges the second ship, the Maersk Candor is carrying 60 more containers of the waste and is on a similar path. 

BAN and the environmental justice organizations, GroundWork, Friends of the Earth in South Africa and EARTH in Thailand have called for the Maersk Candor to be seized by South Africa and have called on the shipping line to immediately halt the shipments so they can be returned to Albania.  

*This item was updated Aug. 12, 2024, to add comments from Maersk Press Officer Povl Rasmussen.