March 1st, 2006

Following the recent controversy surrounding the French ship, the Clemenceau, which was said to contain hundreds of tons of asbestos, it has been revealed that around 70% of Indians are against the vessel being broken up in India. The data comes from research conducted by environmental group, Greenpeace, from which members actually boarded the vessel recently in a bid to stop it from being sent to India to be disposed of.

The Greenpeace survey stated: "Seventy percent of people feel that the Indian government should not allow the Clemenceau into India because it has hazardous substances including asbestos." Nearly a thousand people from a variety of walks of life were interviewed in order to get the results from the survey.

The Supreme Court in India is set to make a decision early next week with regards to whether the vessel will be allowed to enter Indian waters, as environmental activists have expressed concerns about the effects the work on the asbestos laden ship will have on the workers that are disposing of it.