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Dieren en planten

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Accidents at sea   Andinet   

Andinet

On 21 December 2003, the Ethiopian container ship Andinet lost part of its deck load northwest of Texel during a heavy storm. The containers contain drums with the heavily toxic Wolman wood preservative, a mixture of arsenic, chromium and copper compounds used to protect softwood from wood rot. Three containers fell overboard, a fourth one broke open on deck and 63 toxic drums rolled into the sea.

  • Detective work

    Originally, the government was afraid that the containers and drums would wash ashore on Texel or Vlieland. If this were to happen and the drums break open, releasing the cancerous arsenic compounds, then it would become an acute toxic disaster. The Coastwatch searched the sea region but could not discover any drifting containers. When it became apparent that they had sunk, the search was called off since there was no longer acute danger. Only after several weeks after the accident took place, it was reported that the Andinet also had around fifty empty toxic drums on board. Apparently, these drums had already broken open on 21 December, whereby the toxic contents had flowed into the sea.The government underwent negotiations with the Andinet ship owner's insurance company to arrange the recovery of the containers and drums. That is why it took so long for the tracking and salvaging work to begin. In addition, the activities were constantly suspended due to bad weather.

  • New regulations

    As a result of the accident with the Andinet, environmental and fishery organisations are lobbying for sharpening the regulations dealing with transportation of environmentally dangerous materials. Containers with dangerous loads must be provided with a transmitter so that they can be quickly tracked. The lashing work must satisfy the strictest demands. One should also consider requiring containers with dangerous loads to be placed below deck during its entire voyage and at any rate not on the forward deck, which is vulnerable for waves. It was decided in January 2005 to sue both the captain as well as the owner of the Andinet.