Author: Nitin Sethi
Publication: The Times of India
Date: February 11, 2008
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Dead_ships_a_security_threat_too/rssarticleshow/2762927.cms
Introduction: 'D-Company Hand in Ship-Breaking
Deals Point to Drug Smuggling'
The 'dead ships' coming to India under flags
of convenience are not only an environmental threat but also pose a threat
to India's maritime security. A confidential report of the naval intelligence
has pointed out that the D-gang is involved in most of the deals going around
in the shipbreaking business.
TOI had earlier reported on shipowners in
OECD countries using small countries like Liberia and Tuvalu to circumvent
international laws that prevent them from sending ships loaded with dangerous
chemicals for dismantling to developing countries, such as India. The intelligence
report has raised the issue of security threat arising from unregulated shipbreaking
in India.
"The high stakes of profit margin, cheap
labour, corrupt practices and a large floating population have made labour
settlement at Alang (the biggest Asian shipbreaking yard, based in Gujarat)
an ideal breeding ground for mafia and anti-national elements to indulge in
nefarious activities almost unhindered," the report mentions.
TOI had reported on the controversial 'Blue
Lady' aka 'S S Norway', the 2,000-seater luxury liner that was 'officially'
sold to a Liberian company for a mere $10 before being bought by an Indian
company for scrapping at Alang. "Cash buyers operate hand in glove with
the end buyers and owners by under-invoicing a deal. The unmentioned amount
is transacted through the hawala route making almost 40-50% metal trade illegal,"
the report adds.
With scrap steel prices shooting through the
roof, the shipbreaking industry has become a small but important supplier
of broken down steel and iron from the dismantled ships. "Apparently,
a large number of cash buyers are Pakistani nationals based in London and
the UAE. Due to large profit margins, the Dawood group appears to have invested
heavily in cash buyers thus having a stake in most deals," the report
warns.
Indian Naval Intelligence has also warned
that the involvement of the D-gang and Pakistani nationals creates a distinct
possibility that the shipbreaking industry has become a route for landing
contraband and explosives.
The crew on board the dead ships as well as
the escorting vessels (the dead ships have to be towed at times by another)
have come under suspicion as well. There remains a possibility of the crew
escaping scrutiny while landing and leaving Indian waters as well as during
their stay in India. This, the security agency has pointed out, "can
lead to clandestine collection of data, survey of seabed and coastal area,
weather and meteorological data and for dropping and picking agents".
At present, 53 such 'dead ships' are beached
at Alang in contravention of Supreme Court orders. The intelligence report
mentions that the regulations allow such ships innocent passage through the
entire stretch of Indian waters unscrutinised by the security agencies.
Interestingly, the naval report was submitted
as part of a case in the SC on the environmental hazards of unregulated shipbreaking.
The environment and forests ministry had gone on record to say that no intelligence
agency had warned it of such threats specifically.
-nitin.sethi@timesgroup.com
