Wrecking development

Hundreds of sunken ships ranging from large freighters and tankers to small tugs and dhows are blocking access to Iraq’s principal seaports and threatening the marine environment of the northern Gulf, shows a detailed report by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

A systematic survey of the ports of Umm Qasr and Az-Zubayr identified 282 sunken ships and provides detailed information on the location and condition of 40 larger wrecks they say should be removed from the harbours as soon as possible. Many of the vessels sank as a result of military action in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, the 1991 Gulf war and the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The survey analyzes the environmental risks posed by potentially dangerous cargo in many of the ships’ holds, including munitions, pesticides and refined fuels. Pollutants are now leaking from a number of the wrecked ships, the UNDP team reported.

“The current is strong in the area where the vessels are, so a lot of pollution is being carried out to the Gulf, and is spreading,” said Paul Clifford, a UNDP survey adviser. The cost of removing the larger wrecks runs from $1 million to $8 million per vessel, he estimated.

In a bid to secure funding, the UNDP opened here Tuesday meetings with “potential donors” with whom it will share the findings of the survey.

So far, the UNDP has spent some $60 million on dredging operations, but it needs immediate funding for ship removal and maintaining the area.

A full report on the project – the Iraqi Waterway Project, Wreck Removal & Environmental Damage Limitation Survey – is available at www.undp.org.