Anchoring toxic "ghost ships".The parties to the Basel Convention The Basel Convention (verbose: Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal) is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of affirmed in October 2004 that aging oceangoing o·cean·go·ing adj. Made or used for ocean voyages. Adj. 1. oceangoing - used on the high seas; "seafaring vessels" seafaring, seagoing marine - relating to or characteristic of or occurring on or in the sea ships, often called "ghost ships," are to be considered toxic waste toxic waste is waste material, often in chemical form, that can cause death or injury to living creatures. It usually is the product of industry or commerce, but comes also from residential use, agriculture, the military, medical facilities, radioactive sources, and under international law, meaning they cannot be exported for dismantling. Until now such ships were often sent to countries such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey, and China, where laborers would break down the vessels to recover valuable steel. The ships often contain asbestos, PCBs, mercury, lead, waste fuel oil, and other toxic substances that contaminate con·tam·i·nate v. 1. To make impure or unclean by contact or mixture. 2. To expose to or permeate with radioactivity. con·tam·i·nant n. the areas around the shipbreaking yards. The convention now has asked its Open-Ended Working Group to consider a legally binding ban on the movement of such ships to be voted on at the convention's 2005 assembly. |
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