"TIRANA, Albania — Albania prevented Monday a ship suspected of transferring a huge amount of hazardous waste from docking at Tirana’s main port, officials said, after a watchdog group alerted authorities.

The Turkish-flagged Moliva XA443A ship was kept about a mile away from the port of Durres, 33 kilometers (20 miles) west of the capital. Prosecutors ordered the containers to be seized and stored “at an environmentally and physically safe place” to monitor.

The Seattle-based Basel Action Network nongovernmental organization, or BAN, which focuses on environmental issues, said it flagged the ship to authorities in August following a whistleblower’s note that its “102 containers” are suspected of carrying “an estimated 2,100 total metric tonnes of ... waste pollution control filter dust from the steel industry.”

BAN said the “massive shipment” first left Durres on July 4th, 2024, on two Maersk chartered ships with the “intended destination of Thailand.” The group said it also alerted several transit countries and collaborated with EARTH, a leading Thai environmental organization, and together raised the alarm about the shipment".

Llazar Semini reports for the Associated Press October 28, 2024. [2]