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Durres, Albania, Seattle, USA. 4 March 2025. After 12 weeks have transpired since the arrival of the Turkish ship Moliva, containing 102 containers of suspected toxic waste, the Basel Action Network (BAN) and Milieukontakt of Albania denounced the complete silence from the government and the apparent lack of any progress on the case from the Government of Albania and the Durres Prosecutor's office.
The containers left Durres last year in July a controversial voyage to Thailand, only to be returned to Durres from Singapore after the Basel Action Network (BAN) following a tip from a whistleblower, learned that Albanian and Thai authorities had never authorized the shipment, despite the strong likelihood of the material being hazardous waste pollution dust from secondary steel mills. Following the warning, the Singapore and Thai authorities, as well as officials from the Maersk and MSC shipping lines, cooperated to have the containers returned to Durres. The containers arrived on the Moliva on October 28, 2024 and following their seizure by the Durres prosecutors office were removed and taken to the Porto Romano port area North of Durres.
The plan was for the contents of the containers to be sampled and analyzed by independent laboratories as part of the Durres Prosecutor's case in order to determine whether the material was in fact waste and by the "chemical fingerprint" determine who generated the material. So far all indications point to the Kurum steel mills located in Elbasan, Albania as the source.
"We are not even sure that the samples have been taken and the analysis begun," said Mr. Jim Puckett of (BAN). "If it has begun, it is concerning that the sampling was not done publicly and with proper protocols, and chain of custody procedures followed. Illegal trafficking in hazardous waste is a serious matter requiring criminal sanctions under treaty Albania has signed. It is not acceptable to pretend it did not happen and hope it gets forgotten," he said.
Under the rules of the Basel Convention which includes Albania and Thailand as participating Parties, the export of hazardous waste can only take place with the written consent of exporting countries, transit countries and importing countries. According to BAN and Milieukontakt, the question of responsibility and criminal liability cannot be ignored any longer. The groups find it highly irregular that after this many weeks nothing has been reported.
BAN had earlier offered to the Durres Prosecutors office information in a testimony statement which included the whistleblower's photographs and original statements of the waste being loaded in the port of Durres as well as sampling data showing high-levels of pollution from the proposed recipient facility in Thailand. And all of the container numbers of the waste involved including the container numbers of 110 other containers sent earlier in 2024 to China which China had seized as illegal waste imports. BAN had also referred the authorities to some excellent laboratories in the EU that could analyze the waste. But, despite Milieukontakt bringing the testimony in person, to the Prosecutors in Durres, the office refused to accept the information saying it had to be delivered in person by BAN as author. BAN, who has no personnel in Albania, but rather is based in the United States, next offered to send a sworn and notarized affidavit to the Durres office asserting the truth of the testimony, but this offer was ignored.
"Today, on Citizens.al, we are publishing the BAN information we had offered to the Durres Prosecution, and are calling for action," said Valbona Mazreku of Milieukontakt. "The people of Albania require answers now from Albanian authorities. The question of how this happened and who is responsible cannot just be swept under the rug. They deserve to know who in their country and perhaps in their government is complicit in what appears to either gross negligence or a crime." she said.
The organizations are calling for answers to 5 questions from both the Ministry of Environment and the Prosecutors Office.
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