In a worrying exclusive over the weekend, tabloid Correio da Manhã reported that a Scottish cargo ship had been “caught” trying to unload a consignment of “illegal waste” at the port of Figueira da Foz.
The waste had been classified under an international code to denote “glass”.
But when inspectors went to open the boat’s hold, they were met with “strong odours associated with the degradation of organic matter”.
Inside they discovered a mixture of waste, including a “large quantity of plastics, metals and organic material… which could not be classified as glass”.
Citing the Ministry of the Environment’s inspectorate IGAMAOT, CM said the cargo better fitted the description: “mixture of waste” and while such mixtures are not in themselves “illegal”, they become so if being shipped without prior “specific notification”.
Thus the company in Scotland “responsible for sending the cargo” has been notified by the competent authorities who will be issuing a fine, says CM, the value of which will be “defined according to the typification of the crime”.
The problem with this story is that it doesn’t reach a punchline.
CM says the allegedly illegal cargo was destined for a “company in Leiria”.
But it does not say what happened to it.
The Anmare, registered in Antigua Barbuda and built in Slovakia in 2009 (where it started life named Kukelborg) has already left Portugal, “while the case proceeds”.
The question is did it take its stinking cargo with it, or did it manage to unload it in Figueira da Foz, accepting in return the threat of a fine?
CM’s exclusive is headed “international collaboration”, suggesting multiple authorities were involved in Anmare’s ‘unmasking’.
The 2,461 cargo carrier is registered to owning company Briese Schiffahrt of Leer, Germany. The Resident has been in touch with Briese Schiffahrt to try and discover its side to this rather incomplete story.
CM’s “exclusive” alludes to other incidents where Portugal has received suspicious rubbish from from abroad but taken it in nonetheless (click here).
natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
Photo. Taken from ‘shipspotting.com’ and taken by Anja Hillebrands
