World / Deadly chemicals laden ship reached Pakistan coast, stirred

Despite Interpol's warning, a dangerous liquid-loaded vessel reached Pakistan's Gadani shipbreaking yard. This has created a stir among the Pakistani authorities. In a hurry, an inquiry has been ordered into the case. The Environmental Protection Agency, Balochistan has sealed the Gadani Shipbreaking Yard where the vessel is parked. This old ship was brought here to disband.

Authorities have sent labs in Karachi to test samples of the chemicals loaded on the ship. According to the report of the Times of Islamabad, Interpol had issued a warning regarding the ship carrying 1,500 tonnes of mercury mixed chemicals. Interpol prohibited the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from entering the ship into Pakistan.

Now the Deputy Commissioner of Lasbella in Balochistan has ordered an inquiry. The concerned authorities have been asked to ascertain how the ship reached Gadani despite the information shared by Interpol with Pakistani authorities about the presence of hazardous material in the ship.

"We have sealed plot number-58 where the ship was brought in to scrape," Dawn's report said Imran Saeed Kakkar, deputy director of the environment department of Balochistan. He said that no permission was given to the merchant who brought the donkey for scraping the ship.

Imran Saeed Kakkar said that further investigation process would be started after getting the test report from the lab. He said, "If mercury is found to exceed the authorized quantity, a case will be registered against the person who bought the ship through his agent and the plot will be permanently sealed and the owner will face legal action. . "

Due to dangerous chemicals, India and Bangladesh had already refused entry to this ship. Later the name of the ship was changed from 'FS Ordiant' to 'Cherish', after which it reached Karachi on 21 April. It has been brought to the Gadani Shipbreaking Yard, and work to dismantle it is underway.

It is learned that "the owner of the ship was successful in bringing it into the donkey after obtaining permission from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) without obtaining the necessary permission from the concerned departments". The report further claims that the environment ministry and three other federal ministries have discussed the matter over Interpol's warning.

The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA), Environment Protection Agency, Balochistan and the Customs Department were responsible for not allowing the ship to enter Pakistan. But the vessel got entry despite Interpol's warning. There is churn on how this was possible?

However, the authorities concerned have refused to answer why the vessel containing the hazardous material was allowed to stand in the yard despite Interpol's warning. The ship was first brought to Bangladesh and then to India. However, officials in both countries did not allow it to be scraped in their shipbreaking yard due to the dangerous mercury-mixed chemicals being loaded into the ship.