Thailand races to stop 100 cargo ships with toxic waste from reaching its shores

Thai authorities are racing to stop about 100 shipping containers allegedly filled with hazardous industrial waste from Albania reaching the nation’s ports.

Basel Action Network, a US-based non-profit that tracks toxic trade which previously alerted Malaysia to illegal e-waste shipments, last week informed Thailand that containers the organisation believes are filled with potentially harmful electric arc furnace dust were heading its way.

Adding to the alarm, one of the ships carrying the containers is no longer visible on maritime location tracking services. It went dark as it neared Cape Town late last month – after Basel Action Network said it alerted South African Authorities to the shipment.

Thai officials, after receiving the tip that the containers had been loaded onto ships in Albania in early July, say they are working with counterparts in Albania and Singapore, where the vessels are due to dock later this month, to stop the shipments.

The relevant government agencies “weren’t notified and haven’t given consent for these shipments,” Thailand’s Department of Industrial Works, which oversees international waste management, said in an email. “We are currently coordinating and monitoring to prevent this illegal traffic.”

Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries have seen an influx of rubbish from developed countries, from dirty plastic to industrial and electronic waste, which can be laced with toxins. Under the United Nations Basel Convention – a global pact signed on by many developed economies – countries need to give consent for waste headed their way.

The containers are aboard A.P. Moller-Maersk’s A/S’s Campton and Candor vessels, according to the Basel Action Network. Maersk confirmed two of its cargo ships are