The Prosecutor's Office of Durrës has reacted Friday over the recent actions related to the seizure of containers with possible toxic waste in the port of the city.

Through an official announcement, it is announced that the ship carrying these remains will be kept in berth under the supervision of the State Police until the end of the sequestration process.

The Prosecutor's Office of Durrës also emphasizes the commitment to guarantee the environmental and physical safety of the load and for this has requested the help of several scientific institutions to carry out the necessary analyses.

"Also, the Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance of Durrës General Jurisdiction has addressed several Albanian public institutions, such as the Faculty of Geology and Mining, the Faculty of Natural Sciences and the National Agency of Natural Resources, to make available laboratories and experts for conducting analyzes of the material located in the containers subject to seizure," the announcement states, among other things.

An estimated 2,100t of suspected hazardous waste, packed in 102 containers aboard the Turkish-flagged container ship Moliva returned to Durres, Albania, on 28 October after travelling thousands of miles across the globe to Southeast Asia and back.

According to the Basel Action Network (BAN), the massive shipment, suspected to contain waste pollution control filter dust from the steel industry, first departed Durres on 4 July 2024, aboard two Maersk-chartered ships. Shortly afterwards, BAN, following a tip from a whistleblower, alerted authorities in Albania, multiple transit countries, and the intended destination, Thailand, that the ship was likely involved in the criminal trafficking of hazardous waste. As a result, the Thai government stated they had never agreed to accept the waste and asked the Singaporean government to stop the shipment.

BAN’s Director Jim Puckett was at Durres port when the ship arrived and is calling on Albanian authorities to conduct a public opening and sampling of the containers to ensure a transparent sampling and analysis process. He is seeking a split sample so that his independent NGO can conduct a parallel analysis to determine and confirm the hazardousness of the waste. Puckett is scheduled to meet with officials from the Ministry of Environment this week.

“We are 95% certain that this waste is precisely what the whistleblower said it was all along,” said Puckett. “And we are 100% certain it should never have been exported to Thailand. Now that it is back, it is vital that we conduct a full and transparent analysis of the waste’s constituents, determine who generated it, and identify who is responsible for shipping it without proper packaging and notification, likely in violation of international law,” he added.