Everyone gathered in the mess room. I heard some talk of “Estonia” and “emergency response”. Captain Derek began his announcement. “We are en route to Estonia, to provide emergency rapid response, and support to activists on land. We are going to change focus a little bit from Oceans work, to Toxics.”

The Probo Koala

As we listened, we learned about a tanker ship called the Probo Koala. It is a ship owned by Trafigura, and operating under a flag of Panama. Earlier this month, Probo Koala arrived in the port of Amsterdam.

After it left Amsterdam, Probo Koala ended up in Cote DÂ’Ivoire, Africa, in their economic capital of Abidjan. Legally, there is an international agreement called the Basel Convention, which is supposed to keep more economically developed countries from dumping their toxic waste on less developed ones.

But the law doesn't always protect the people it should.

Why it is called a toxic death ship

The Probo Koala dumped its cargo of chemical sludge in landfills and the streets of Abidjan with the help of a local company. Seven people died and over 40,000 had to be treated for nausea, breathing problems and nosebleeds.

Knowing about lack of resources in Cote DÂ’IvoireÂ’s, they are having a tough time dealing with an environmental crisis of this magnitude.

Probo Koala is docked in Paldiski Estonia now. This is why we are here. We are demanding this ship is checked for further toxic cargo, and detained until the full chain of responsibility for this deadly disaster is revealed and the guilty are prosecuted.

We are blockading the Probo Koala. We will not let this ship kill again while we have the power to prevent it.

The Estonian authorities must act to help us.