A ship carrying hundreds of tons of industrial waste deemed suspicious and potentially toxic arrived yesterday in Albania, the place from which it had initially set sail. The cargo was not accepted in Thailand, and the ship wandered for months before returning to Albania, as reported by the non-governmental organization Basel Action Network (BAN).

“The ship has anchored in Durrës, about one kilometer from the port,” said Jim Puckett, the executive director of BAN, who was present at the Albanian port awaiting the ship’s arrival. The cargo ship Moliva, flagged in Türkiye, reportedly carries “102 containers, or 2,100 tons” of waste considered suspicious. The shipment left Albania in July. According to documents presented at the Albanian customs, the waste is industrial waste, specifically iron oxide, which is permitted for export.

However, according to information relayed to BAN from a whistleblower, this waste is Electric Arc Furnace Dust (EAFD), which is classified as toxic waste and must be stored and transported under very strict conditions. The waste was rejected in Thailand and traveled back to Albania after the ship wandered for many months at sea, stopping in Spain, Portugal, and Türkiye.

“The transport of this waste has caused disagreements. Some claim it is not hazardous waste. We assert that we are 95% sure it is,” said Jim Puckett during a press conference in Durrës. The NGO believes it is “steel dust collected in the filters of the Elbasan steel mills,” he said. “If what we claim is true (…) this export was a criminal export that should never have occurred.”

The Basel Action Network, based in the United States, is calling on the Albanian authorities to participate in sampling the ship’s cargo to ascertain its nature and identify “the producer and the origin of the waste,” explained Jim Puckett. A delegation from the organization was set to meet with the Albanian authorities yesterday.

The Durrës prosecutor’s office has initiated an investigation in collaboration with the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) for “the smuggling of prohibited goods” and “abuse of power.”

The Albanian prosecutor’s office ordered the seizure of the containers before their arrival to prepare for their opening under safe conditions.

The shipment of industrial waste from Western countries for management elsewhere, in Asia or Africa, is part of a global trade that is consistently condemned by environmental NGOs. It represents an annual value of 44 to 70 billion euros, according to estimates.