THE Danish dragger ship "Skandia" is illegally dumping toxic waste from the Israeli fertiliser company Haifa Chemicals in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, according to Greenpeace. Interestingly, the Danish Law on Protection of the Sea prohibits its ships from dumping wastes at sea anywhere in the world.

Greenpeace reports that the ship is owned by Nordic Stone and Gravel Company, Denmark. Earlier, the Israeli ship "Rahela" had been dumping toxic sludge off Haifa Chemicals in the sea. However, the ship was withdrawn from service after a leakage incident. Ben-Dov, Greenpeace Mediterranean campaigner in Israel, says: "It is inconceivable that a Danish ship participates in a polluting operation in the Mediterranean Sea while its own country bans such a practice." The Israeli committee for special permits has allowed Haifa Chemicals to dump another 60,000 tonne of toxic sludge in the Mediterranean until October 1998. This is the only systematic dumping in the world.

Tests carried out by the Greenpeace International Laboratory at Exeter University in the UK prove that samples taken from the Israeli dumping ship "Aribel" are acidic and contain heavy metals and toxic organic chemicals.