September 14th, 2006
A vessel may have to return to the Netherlands after being sent to Turkey to be broken up, because officials have stated that there is too much asbestos on board the ship. The Mexican-flagged ship was turned away at Ankara because of the high levels of asbestos that are said to be present in the vessel.
The Otapan was built in 1965 and weighs in at over 15,500 tons. The Secretary of State for the Environment in the Netherlands stated that the ship may now have to return there, but he added: "But it cannot be broken up here because it is not economically viable."
The vessel had been moored in Amsterdam for the last seven years, and finally left for Turkey towards the end of July. It was supposed to be stripped of all asbestos and broken up at a naval dockyard in the west of the country.
However, Turkish authorities claim that the ship was supposed to contain just one ton of asbestos but in fact contained 54 tons of the carcinogenic substance.

