Captain of Probo Koala ordered to remain silent on toxic cargo

101_6_SIG

Radio Netherlands Worldwide

It became clear during Thursday's session of the Probo Koala toxic waste trial in Amsterdam that the captain of the Probo Koala was ordered to keep silent about the true nature of the cargo aboard his ship.

Earlier, Captain Sergey Chertov stated that he was not aware exactly what would happen to the toxic waste and that he was simply following instructions. Captain Chertov was not present in court today.

His clients sent him several emails in which they instructed him to keep silent about the presence of caustic soda in the chemical waste aboard the Probo Koala. Caustic soda is used to remove the sulphur from low-grade used oil to turn it into cheap petrol. The process took place aboard the Probo Koala while sailing in the Mediterranean because environmental laws made it impossible to process the used oil on land.

In addition to the captain of the Probo Koala, Trafigura - the company that chartered the ship - the city of Amsterdam and the waste processing company APS are also on trial. The waste from the Probo Koala was sent to APS for processing in June 2006.

APS initially thought it was dealing with rinse water used to clean the ship's tanks. It was only when the water was being pumped over to APS that it became clear to the company that it was much more polluted than APS had been led to believe. Processing the waste at APS would have cost Trafigura about 400,000 euros.

Captain Chertov therefore received instructions to take the waste back on board and have it processed elsewhere where this could be done much cheaper. A waste processing company in Ivory Coast eventually agreed to do it for a fraction of the price quoted by APS. Sixteen people allegedly died and tens of thousands fell ill when the Ivorian company simply dumped the waste at rubbish tips across the city of Abidjan.

The captain of the Probo Koala faces a prison sentence on charges of forgery. The former director of APS may also face a term of imprisonment if the court finds that environmental laws were broken. The trial will last a few more weeks and the court is expected to present its ruling at the end of July.