TIRANA, Albania — On Monday, Albanian officials successfully barred a ship thought to be transporting significant amounts of hazardous waste from entering the main port in Tirana. This intervention followed a notification from an environmental watchdog organization.
The vessel, known as the Moliva XA443A and flying a Turkish flag, was held approximately one mile from the port of Durres, located 33 kilometers (20 miles) west of Albania’s capital. Prosecutors directed that the containers aboard the ship be confiscated and stored in a manner that ensures both environmental and physical safety for continued monitoring.
The Basel Action Network (BAN), an environmental non-governmental organization based in Seattle, previously alerted authorities about the ship back in August. This warning originated from a whistleblower’s report indicating that the ship carried 102 containers filled with an estimated 2,100 metric tonnes of waste, specifically pollution control filter dust originating from the steel industry.
BAN characterized the shipment as substantial, noting that it first departed from Durres on July 4, 2024, aboard two Maersk chartered vessels with Thailand as its supposed destination. The organization communicated with several potential transit countries and partnered with EARTH, a prominent Thai environmental group, to raise the alarm concerning the shipment.
Thailand ultimately refused to accept the shipment, leading to a request for Singaporean authorities to intervene. Consequently, the vessels made a stop at a Turkish port, where the cargo was transferred onto the Turkish-flagged ship, which then briefly docked at the Italian port of Gioia Tauro before proceeding to Albania, according to BAN’s accounts.
Local reports mention that the customs documentation indicated the containers contained iron oxide. In response to this situation, the Albanian opposition accused the government of engaging in the illegal trafficking of hazardous materials. In Parliament, Prime Minister Edi Rama defended the government, asserting that the shipment’s documentation had been validated and noting that iron oxide is not classified as toxic waste according to European environmental standards.
Jim Puckett, who heads BAN, was present in Durres as the ship arrived and appealed for a public inspection and sampling of the containers to uphold transparency. BAN expressed their intent to analyze samples in various laboratories simultaneously.
During his interactions with reporters, Puckett conveyed suspicions that the potentially toxic steel furnace dust had originated from an Albanian company and had also been smuggled illegally from Kosovo and Germany. “It is the responsibility of the Albanian government to determine an appropriate method for disposal,” he emphasized.
Puckett mentioned that government officials confirmed that the prosecutor’s office in Durres had taken possession of the ship at the anchorage, and he is coordinating with them to obtain necessary samples.
“We sincerely hope that the waste will undergo proper sampling and be analyzed by independent entities so that public confidence in the results can be secured,” BAN stated.
As Albania aspires to integrate into the European Union, the government is striving to align its hazardous waste policies with EU standards, which include banning the export of hazardous waste, household waste, electronic waste, and plastics to developing nations. Currently, there has been no immediate feedback from the Ministry of Tourism and Environment regarding this incident.