Asbestos in French Ship

"Groups Seek Containment as Ship Heads to India"

December 27, 2005

In a legal effort that could have ramifications worldwide, several French groups are trying to stop the departure of a French naval vessel, the Clemenceau, which is headed to India to be broken up. The groups say that the levels of asbestos onboard the ship is so hazardous that it will expose hundreds of Indian ship workers to the deadly carcinogen unnecessarily.

Asbestos was widely used in ship making, building materials, insulation, and fireproofing until the 1970s when it was discovered to be hazardous to people's health. Asbestos exposure is known to cause a rare and highly deadly form of cancer called mesothelioma. Businesses in the US face billions of dollars in lawsuits as mesothelioma cases due to asbestos exposure increase.

The French ship was once a part of the 1991 Gulf War but is now decommissioned and going to be dismantled in India. Critics of the move say that the conditions of Indian workers and that country's lax asbestos laws create a potentially disastrous situation. The rights group "Ban Asbestos" has filed a lawsuit in Paris, France in order to try to stop the ship from going to India and endangering the workers there.

The lawsuit also contends that the Clemenceau cannot be exempt from the Bale convention of 1989 on the international shipment of dangerous waste. The French government is making the argument that because the ship is a warship it is exempt.

The practice of scrapping ships in India and other third world countries is drawing heavy criticism from environmental and employment rights groups worldwide.

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