The asbestos-laden ship Otopan will be heading back to Amsterdam following Malta and Turkey’s refusal to harbour it.
Dutch Environment Minister Pieter Van Geel announced that The Netherlands would be taking the ship back following a diplomatic deadlock which left it stranded as it searched in vain for a welcoming port in the Mediterranean.
The Otopan, formerly an oil tanker, was refused access to Malta on Wednesday by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, in its capacity as the local agency responsible for the trans-frontier shipment of waste.
Just a few weeks earlier, the ship became embroiled in a diplomatic wrangle in Turkey, where it was also denied access.