return the goods! 100 containers were rejected…

Recently, amid protests from environmentalists, about 100 containers suspected of transporting toxic substances will be sent back to Europe.

It is understood that these containers were filled with 800 tons of hazardous industrial waste from Albania and were originally planned to be shipped to Thailand. Environmental groups have previously warned that the waste is being illegally exported to Southeast Asia.

Bloomberg tracking data shows the boxes were loaded on the Contship Vow in Albania in mid-July, which shipped the boxes to Trieste, Italy.

Upon arrival, the boxes were transferred to two vessels chartered by Maersk, the Maersk Campton and the Maersk Candor, which were transporting the boxesShipping to Singapore. This time they will be transferred to MSC ships again,Then it was shipped to Thailand.

Among them, the Maersk Campton unloaded its containers in Singapore over the weekend. The ship initially sailed through the port and then turned back to dock.

Environmental groups accuse the Maersk Campton of containing 40 containers of hazardous dust waste. It is reported that the containers were transferred to an MSC ship on August 18 and shipped back to Italy.

Currently, the Maersk Campton has left Singapore Port and sailed to Tianjin New Port.

Regarding this ship, Maersk said that it is cooperating with the Singapore authorities and MSC to transport these dangerous goods back to Albania. The containers are currently expected to arrive at the Italian port of Gioia Tauro at the end of September.

Ship information shows that the Maersk Campton departing from the Tangier Mediterranean port was built in 2022, has a capacity of 15,000TEU, flies the British flag, and is deployed by the 2M Alliance on the Asia-Mediterranean route (Maersk's AE12/TP2 route, MSC's PHOENIX/JAGUAR route)

This route calls at ports such as Tianjin Xingang, Dalian, Ningbo, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Shekou in China.

Another 60 containers containing suspected waste are currently loaded on the Maersk Candor. The ship will arrive in Singapore in early September and will eventually return to Italy.

The containers were originally loaded on an MSC container ship sailing from Albania.

Data shows that the container ship Maersk Candor was built in 2022, has a capacity of 15,473TEU, flies the Liberian flag, and is also deployed by the 2M Alliance on the Asia-Mediterranean route (Maersk's AE12/TP2 route, MSC's PHOENIX/JAGUAR route).

Maersk told media last week that it would inform relevant authorities about the shipment and would cooperate with them as necessary. Its spokesman Summer Shi said the two container ships were carrying containers booked by another shipping company to depart from Albania.

Maersk reported: "None of these containers have been declared to contain hazardous waste. If these containers were declared to contain hazardous waste, Maersk would refuse to transport them."

Earlier this month, the Basel Action Network—a philanthropic NGO that combats toxic waste exports of technology and other products from industrialized societies to developing countries— Notify Thailand that a batch of containers carrying electric arc furnace dust that may be harmful to humans is heading to a Thai port.

Thai officials have since been working to stop the shipment.

It is understood that since these containers were loaded at the port of Durres, Albania, in July, their voyage has aroused the vigilance of many countries, and is finally scheduled to arrive in Thailand later this month.

The Bangkok Post reported that the Port Authority of Thailand said it would not accept the waste. Thai officials have informed Singaporean officials of the shipment and told them they would not accept it.

Thailand’s Ministry of Industrial Engineering, which oversees international waste management, said in an email,Relevant government agencies "have not been notified and have not approved the shipment of these goods."

"We are currently coordinating and monitoring to prevent this illegal trafficking."

Albanian authorities have not approved the export of the so-called hazardous waste, said Erjon Uka, spokesman for the Albanian Ministry of Tourism and Environment.

He said Albanian law enforcement authorities were cooperating with the European Union’s Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) to investigate “this suspected transport of waste from Europe to Southeast Asia and all logistics links.”

The waste is suspected to have come from a multinational company operating near a metallurgical plant in Elbasan, near Durrës, Uka said. It is reported that the 800 tons of waste is toxic steelmaking furnace dust collected from pollution control filters. The ash, produced when steel is recycled, contains toxic metal oxides and needs to be disposed of.

Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries have seen an influx of waste from developed countries, ranging from dirty plastics to industrial and electronic waste, which can contain toxins. Under the United Nations' Basel Convention, shipping waste to other countries requires that country's consent.

It is reported that the European Union has strengthened restrictions on the transportation of toxic waste. Under the new rules, which will come into force in 2027, exports of EU waste to non-OECD countries will only be allowed if the European Commission notifies these countries of their willingness to import the waste and proves their ability to manage the waste in a sustainable way.