‘Radioactive’ cargo from SKorea seized
Credit to Author: Raffy Ayeng| Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2019 18:53:19 +0000
A “radioactive” shipment from South Korea was seized on Friday by a joint team from the Philip-pine Coast Guard (PCG) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) at the Cabangan Wharf in Cabangan, Zambales, north of Manila.
bring 53,000 metric tons of toxic cargo to Manila. The ship from Gwangyang Port arrived in the Philippines on Friday.
PHOTO BY PCG
The PCG-NBI team subsequently held the skipper and crew of a merchant ship, Dayang Century, which was carrying 53,000 metric tons of a toxic substance from Gwangyang Port in South Korea.
The cargo turned out to be phosphogypsum, which the Department of Environment and Natural Resources described as radioactive, citing the presence of naturally-occurring radioactive ele-ments.
Phosphogypsum is a “waste by-product formed from the processing of phosphate rock in plants, which produces phosphate fertilizers.”
It is “used for covering landfills, road pavements, for making artificial reefs and as a soil condition-er.”
“[D]ischarged into the sea, watercourses or in wilderness stocks,” phosphogypsum “contains toxic elements harmful to ecosystems and human health, including heavy metals and radionuclides, and there is therefore a concern regarding environmental impacts.”
A belated report provided by the National Coast Watch Center said the government team pro-ceeded to Zambales to intercept the Liberian-flagged merchant ship.
Crane operators and several crew were already unloading the toxic substance when the joint PCG-NBI team arrived at Cabangan Wharf.
The crew said the cargo was intended to be transported to San Mateo, Rizal, east of Manila.
The PCG-NBI team immediately boarded the ship and requested the still unidentified skipper to present the permits to carry the shipment, but he failed to do so.
Hence, the skipper and the crew were informed to stop unloading the cargo for violations under Republic Act 6969 or Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990 and RA 9003 or Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
They were read their Miranda rights by the NBI.
Afterward, the skipper contacted the agent and shipowner to informed them about the situation.
Before leaving the area, the PCG conducted an inventory of the ship equipment and vehicles in-volved in the unloading of the phosphogypsum.
Finally, the skipper and the crew, as well as the crane operators, were arrested an brought to the NBI headquarters in Manila for proper custody and further investigation.
Before the actual operation, the PCG had been tipped off and later found that two other merchant vessels of different international shipping companies carrying the same toxic cargo arrived in Subic Port between August and September 2018 attempted to import phosphogypsum.
The importation was denied and the ships were ordered to return to their originating ports in South Korea.
Mandated to perform maritime law enforcement, as well as to uphold maritime safety and marine environmental protection, the PCG implements and enforces regulations to ensure secure mari-time jurisdiction, save lives and promote cleaner seas in the Philippines.
Toxic-garbage shipments from Canada and also from South Korea were sent back this year by the Philippine government to their ports of origin.