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Krishna says the responsibility to decontaminate a vessel before scrapping it should lie with the ship's owners, and the legal duty to enforce this should belong to its country of origin. He says the U.S. government hasn't done enough to stop the Oceanic. "The U.S. has a vested interest in allowing the transport of such ships," Krishna says. "It is a nonsignatory to the [Basel] Convention. It facilitates dismantling of the rules as well as dismantling of the ships. This is an act of connivance."

Krishna's group and the Basel Action Network question why the EPA is merely seeking to fine the Oceanic's owners instead of ordering the ship to return to U.S. waters immediately. In 2006 the French government ordered the return of its asbestos-laden aircraft carrier, the Clemenceau, which was seeking admission into Indian waters for scrapping. The ship was recalled before the Indian Supreme Court reached a decision on the matter.

Spokesmen for both the EPA and Global Shipping will not comment on the legal proceedings involving the Oceanic, but Dean Higuchi, EPA spokesman in Hawaii, says, "All ships need to meet our EPA regulations, especially if they are going to be scrapped." But he concedes that the agency's control over the ship was limited once she reached the high seas. "In general the EPA does not have the ability to recall a ship from international waters," Higuchi says.

In September 2007 the Indian Supreme Court issued two rulings on the ship-breaking industry, which maintained India's ability to scrap all types of ships, though requiring the documentation of any toxic materials on board.

"India has the capability to recycle warships, nuclear vessels, passenger carriers and all kinds of ships," says Atul Sharma, environmental engineer at the Gujarat Maritime Board, the authority responsible for monitoring the Alang shipyard.

Praveen Nagarsheth, president of the Indian Ship-Breakers Association, is equally confident. "As far as I'm concerned, the Supreme Court has allowed any ship to come to India," he said. "Now the question comes about American law. If the American government doesn't intervene, [the Oceanic] will come to India and be broken."

© 2008