Environment Agency blocks sailing of suspected waste ship

The Environment Agency's crack down on suspected breaches of international waste laws continued late last week when it moved to block the sailing of a tanker ship that it was suspected was leaving the UK to be broken up illegally.

The Margaret Hill, a 50,700 tonne liquid natural gas tanker, was stopped from sailing out of Southampton late on Friday after the Environment Agency received information that it may be destined for an undisclosed shipyard abroad.

Under international law, ships require approval from both the Environment Agency and the equivalent authority in the country where they are to be dismantled before they are broken up.

Moreover, ships that are likely to contain hazardous material, such as The Margaret Hill, can only be dismantled at approved facilities in the EU or an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development country.

The Environment Agency said that it had reason to believe the ship was on its way to be broken up, despite the fact the operators had not sought approval for dismantling. As a result, for the first time the agency used its legal powers to stop the ship from sailing.

Liz Parkes, head of waste and resource management at the Environment Agency, said that the authorities were in discussion with the finance company that recently took possession of the ship to "establish what is happening to it and to make them aware of the procedures that must be followed if they intend the ship to be exported for recycling".

"There are rules in place to ensure waste ships do not end up in developing countries, and cause damage to people and the environment," she said. "The Environment Agency will only give permission for a waste ship to be exported if it is going to an authorised recycling site in a country that wants to accept it and has necessary agreements in place."

The move is the latest in a series of high-profile coups for the Environment Agency, which recently reported that the scale of fines handed out for breaching waste rules has more than doubled in the past five years.

The Agency is also currently involved in the return of a ship containing waste that had been illegally shipped to Brazil in breach of international waste laws.

"We have always been tough on breaches of waste legislation, but there have certainly been some bigger cases in recent months that highlight the work we do to stop this activity," said a spokesman for the agency.