A court in Amsterdam has fined multinational Trafigura one million euros for exporting dangerous chemical waste by ship to Ivory Coast in 2006, where it was dumped.

The Ukrainian captain of the ship was sentenced to a five-year suspended jail term. An employee of Trafigura was fined 25,000 euros.

In a United Nations report on the case, the death of at least 15 Ivorians has been attributed to chemical poisoning by the waste. Ivorian authorities say thousands of people were poisoned.

The Trafigura-chartered ship loaded with chemicals arrived at the port of Amsterdam in July 2006 to offload caustic soda and petroleum wastage for treatment. The Amsterdam Port Services refused to treat the wastage at the price agreed, saying that it turned out to be far more toxic than had been assumed. The ship then sailed from the Dutch capital to the African country where the waste was dumped on tips in populated areas in and around the city of Abidjan.

The Amsterdam Port Services, as well as the Ukrainian captain of the ship, the Probo Koala, and the Trafigura company had been charged with offences against Dutch environment and waste export laws. They all pleaded not guilty. Amsterdam Port Services was not found guilty on any charge.

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