Medical chamber expresses concern over aircraft carrier dismantling in İzmir

Photo: Ege Ship Dismantling company

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A Brazil-flagged aircraft carrier will be dismantled in Turkey's western İzmir province.

Releasing a statement about the issue, the İzmir Medical Chamber said that the dismantling of the "NAe SãoPaulo" ship, which allegedly contains more than 900 tons of asbestos, would cause pollution both in the sea and on the land.

Lütfü Çamlı, the head of the chamber, said there are 22 ship dismantling facilities in İzmir and the number of ships brought from around the world to be dismantled increased especially after 2010.

"The increasing ship dismantling traffic creates a major source of environmental pollution for Aliağa and İzmir and poses a great threat for people living around these facilities and workers," said Çamlı.

According to international conventions, workers should be protected from exposure to dangerous chemicals released during the dismantling of ships, he added.

However, he said, ship dismantling processes in İzmir are not run transparently and in accordance with the national legislation and international conventions.

"Our determined struggle against our country and city becoming the dangerous waste dump of the world will continue. The required legal actions to prevent the 'NAe SãoPaulo' ship from entering our territorial waters will be taken by our chamber," he remarked.

Ship dismantling in İzmir

After a ship accident on March 22, 2013, oil sludge spilled into the sea and the Çandarlı beach of Dikili district was covered with oil sludge.

Two years after this accident, a tanker named Kuito with a daily oil processing capacity of 100,000 barrels, which was brought to Aliağa for dismantling, was investigated five times more radioactivity than limit values was detected.

A lawsuit was filed for the cancellation of the dismantling but the İzmir 3rf Administrative court ruled for the stay of execution months after the ship was dismantled.

A similar process happened with the ETHANE ship.

In 2018, it was revealed that oil was deliberately discharged from a ship named Harrier and oil pollution was observed on Foça coasts.

Substances such as mineral oils, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), asbestos, organotin compounds, dioxin are listed as environmental pollutants in shipbreaking plants. These pollutants get into the air.

European countries and the US have withdrawn from the ship dismantling sector since the 1980s. (TP/VK)