Navy says no to action against Greenpeace ship

Deulkar said the Board was helpless as it did not have a boat to nab them. ‘‘When we chase them, they escape to the safety of international limits,’’ he said.

Board sources admitted on Saturday the Navy had turned down the request to act against Rainbow Warrior because the vessel was not anchored within jurisdiction.

Even Customs said they can’t act against the vessel. But Deulkar said he had notified the vessel’s captain that the ship was violating port limits. Ramapati Kumar, ship-breaking activist aboard Rainbow Warrior, told The Indian Express that the decision was surprising because Greenpeace had only been trying to expose the double standards adopted by the United Kingdom Government which allowed export of Genova Bridge for breaking at Alang while refusing to allow scrapping American ships in the United Kingdom.

Greenpeace said Genova Bridge had not been stripped of its hazardous material, contravening Indian laws and the Basel Convention, an international pact governing movement of hazardous waste. The ship was beached for scrapping at Alang on November 9. Board authorities allege Greenpeace came up with the allegation only after the ship was bought by an Indian ship-breaker.

Asked why GMB was against Greenpeace, Deulkar said: ‘‘They should come through proper channels and pay Customs and port fees.’’ Greenpeace’s Kumar said they had also applied to the Union Ministry of Environment.

‘‘Instead of targeting us, they should act against criminals who are violating laws,’’ Kumar said, accusing the Board of doing little to implement Supreme Court guidelines issued on October 14.

‘‘Clearly there are vested interests at work, when authorities choose to ignore the criminal and go after the witnesses,’’ said Ananthapadmanabhan, Executive Director, Greenpeace India, in a statement.