News / 'Toxic' boxes taken off Maersk-chartered ships for return to origin

Maersk Campton. Photo: VesselFinder

More than 100 containers onboard two Maersk-chartered ships will be offloaded in Singapore and returned to their point of origin in Albania, after allegations they contain hazardous industrial waste bound for Thailand.

Affected are 61 containers on the 15,413 teu Maersk Candor and 41 on the Maersk Campton, both ships chartered from interests linked to international ship management company Zodiac Maritime.

US non-government organisation Basel Action Network monitors the toxic trade and had warned the Thai government early this month that the containers could be Thailand-bound. It called on authorities there to work with their counterparts in Albania and Singapore to stop the shipments.

However, a Maersk spokesperson told The Loadstar the containers had not been declared as containing industrial waste, and claimed false media reports had been circulating.

She added: “Had they been declared to contain hazardous waste, Maersk would have declined to carry them.”

She refuted Basel Action Network’s allegations, and said: “According to a press release from an NGO dated 5 August, the vessels were heading from Albania to Thailand carrying hazardous waste – with a call in South Africa on their schedules. All this is incorrect; the vessels have never called at Albania or South Africa, nor do they have any scheduled calls in Thailand.”

EconDB shows both Maersk Candor and Maersk Campton are deployed on the 2M’s AE12 Asia-Europe service, which calls at Tianjin, Dalian, Busan, Ningbo, Shanghai, Shekou, Singapore, Port Said, Koper, Trieste and Rijeka.

The containers, which the Maersk spokesperson confirmed had originated in Albania and were booked by another shipping line, are being returned because of the speculation about their contents.

Maersk Campton arrived in Singapore on Saturday, the affected containers were offloaded and the ship is now on its way to China’s Tianjin port. Maersk’s spokesperson said the 61 affected containers on Maersk Candor would be removed when the ship arrives in Singapore this Saturday.

Basel Action Network also claimed the Maersk Campton automatic identification systems (AIS) had been switched off near Cape Town, alleging this was done after the NGO had notified the South African authorities about the alleged toxic cargo.

Maersk’s spokesperson said the AIS was deactivated for security reasons and explained: “With the current security situation in the waters around the Middle East region, it is not uncommon that some vessel owners may turn off their AIS due to security concerns.”