ANKARA - A ship containing toxic waste sank yesterday after being moored in a Turkish harbor for four years, sparking fears among environmentalists of serious damage to local marine life.
The Ulla had sat in the port of Iskenderun in southeastern Turkey since 2000 as officials tried to decide what to do about its two-toncargo, which Turkish media said was waste from the chimneys of thermal powers stations.
Turkish television showed the ship, its bottom rotted away, gradually sinking beneath the waters of the east Mediterranean.
"Unfortunately this was something that was bound to happen," Banu Dokmecibasi of Greenpeace's Mediterranean office told the Anatolian state news agency.
She said officials had ignored a report last year warning of the risk that the ship might sink and spill its contents into the sea.
"The necessary measures were not taken," she said, adding that the authorities must now mount an urgent investigation to contain the effects of the spillage.
Environmentalists fear the carcinogenic cargo could destroy local marine life and also enter the human food chain.
Officials were not immediately available for comment.
The Turkish-owned vessel had originally transported the waste from Spain to Algeria. But it was diverted to Turkey after Algeria declined to take the cargo, Anatolian said.
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