[ Asbestos Gets Greenpeace Attention ]

Greenpeace boarded the Costamare Shipping-owned, Hapag-Lloyd-operated
containership ‘Tokio Express’ in Rotterdam last week to paint messag
es in three languages, including Chinese and Hindi, designed to warn s
hip scrapping workers about what the environmental group believes are
potentially lethal levels of asbestos. In a statement, Greenpeace said
, “Companies from the rich OECD nations must stop dumping their hazar
dous waste on poor countries and take the responsibility for this wast
e.” It said Costamare and Hapag-Lloyd had to guarantee that hazardous
materials will be removed from the ship before it is sent to China. I
t said Costamare has scrapped nine vessels in Alang, India in the past
four years.