Crew Member on Board the MV Greenpeace

With tonnes of kilos of toxic sludge at the doorstep of the Port of Rotterdam Greenpeace ends the protest in September against the dumping of highly polluted sludge from the Rotterdam harbour in the North Sea. A whole week about thirty Greenpeace activists prevent the dredger vessel Hein from discharging its toxic cargo of TBT in the North Sea. Activists in inflatables block the ship offshore of Scheveningen and other activists board the dredger vessel Hein and sit in protective clothing on the toxic sludge. After summary proceedings by the Port of Rotterdam Greenpeace stops the action and brings back a part of the polluted sludge to the harbour. The Rotterdam sludge is polluted with tributyltin (TBT), a toxic processed in many ship paints to prevent the growth of alga and sea acorns to the ship's hull. TBT damages sea life. Female shellfish develop male sexual characteristics and become infertile. Because of this the sea whelks have already disappeared in the Wadden Sea. The 16 million tonnes of sludge from Rotterdam that is dumped in the North Sea yearly, exceeds the environmental standard of the Dutch government for TBT with 500 times. The action of Greenpeace is part of the worldwide campaign against POP's (Persistent Organic Pollutants). POP's do not decompose readily or quickly in the environment and they cover long distances in the environment. They accumulate in the fatty of humans and animals and are often hormone disrupting.