Smoke and mirrors cloud scrap vessels in Colón

The scrapping of ships close to the city of Colón and without environmental management instruments has generated concern among activists and ecological organizations.

Ricardo Wong, president of the Foundation for the Protection of the Sea (Promar), said the activity is very delicate because the ships have fuel tanks or ballast water,” he said.

In Wong’s words, the country has a problem with all the ships that have remained there Colón and a solution must be found that complies with adequate environmental instruments.

Data from the Panama Canal Authority shows that only in the anchorages of Colón, 14 sunken ships have been detected on the west side and 5 on the east. Statistics from the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) state that there are 70 ships in a state of abandonment in the country.

Environmental lawyer Harley Mitchell Jr. recalled that the lawyer Yamilka Arauz filed in 2021 –in her personal capacity– an administrative complaint with the Ministry of the Environment against the company JAM Marine Dockyard, SA, for lacking an environmental impact study to operate a scrapyard in Colon.

“It is unfortunate that the authorities do not stop this type of polluting activity,” said Mitchell, adding that there is a disorder in this matter that must be regulated, since the Maritime Authority is granting permits to scrap anywhere, without environmental control.

The Ministry of the Environment reported that the company, which received an operating permit for the use of the seabed from the Maritime Authority, was asked for a “mandatory environmental audit” because that operation represents a “risk to the environment”, and in order to make a diagnosis and verify if it complies with environmental laws.

According to the entity, the audit must be delivered in the last quarter of this year.

In addition, the ministry reported that its Regional Directorate in Colón is following an administrative sanctioning process against the company for an environmental complaint that is in process and several sunken ships are in protected areas, a problem that also worries them.

Efraín Villarreal, a representative of JAM Marine Dockyard, stated that they comply with environmental laws. “They asked us for an environmental audit and we presented it. We also have an operating permit”, he said.