French Asbestos Ship in More Trouble

Article Added February 6th, 2006 - Print This Story - Bookmark This Story

The Clemenceau’s fate is still undecided as an Indian council that was to decide its course skips over the deadline to report to the Supreme Court. Contention between the council is the speculated reason for the delay.

The day of reckoning for the 11 member Supreme Court Monitoring Commission has come and gone. The meeting in the southern Indian port of Chennai was supposed to conclude Monday with a report to the apex court, which would pass a final ruling on Feb. 13. Three of the members wish to allow the ship to be broken up in the western state of Gujarat, while the remaining eight members wish to bar the ship from port. Until further studies were made, the commission had agreed via an interim report that the ship should stay out f Indian territory.

The official word of the delay was that the commission was awaiting word of further studies. The inventory from the French government for the Clemenceau had not yet been received or reviewed by the council. Some council members feel this is a humiliation to the former flag ship of the French Navy. Others say that the French should just recall the ship instead of pursuing this line of action. The decision, which will be compiled today will most likely not be a unanimous decision for the ship. Though the three members in favor of docking the ship point out that the port is equipped to handle hazardous material, the rest of the council highlights the fact that France had already misconstrued the amount of asbestos on board, and may be breaking the Basal Convention of 1989.

Article Added February 6th, 2006 - Print This Story - Bookmark This Story