The notorious Exxon Valdez, now named the Oriental Nicety, was previously headed for Alang Beach for dismantling and recycling. But, the Gujarat Maritime Board turned it away and denied moorage for the vessel responsible for the 1989 oil spill that coated vast areas of Alaska's Gulf Coast with 11 million gallons of oil.

The ill-lucked ship was denied moorage after it failed to reassure India’s Supreme Court that all toxic material had been stripped from the vessel in accordance with the United Nations Basel Treaty on Hazardous Waste Management. The ship is already in India’s waters. The ship entered Indian waters last week.

The ship was recently bought by an Indian Recycling company and was scheduled to be dismantled and its steel recycled.

The court directed the government to inform the court on “steps being taken to prevent the ship berthing in any of the ports in India, without following the conditions indicated in the Basel Convention.”

According to the India-based Toxic Waste Alliance, the Exxon Valdez is the second ship originating from the U.S. that is trying to thwart Indian law concerning the dismantling and recycling of ships in their country. TWA points out that since 1982, 5,924 ships that have come to the end of their lives have been granted access to India and dismantled. They also point out that the area where the ships are broke down, there are no land-fill facilities or other disposal sites nearby. They surmise that the waste materials that are the products of the process are unceremoniously dumped in India’s waters or are left on the beach near the site.

The TWA states that there is no way to tell how many workers and villagers have come into contact with hazardous materials such as PCB, PCTs, asbestos, and radioactive waste. They also state they do not know the extent of the contamination on the beaches near the site.

India’s courts have constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee, but recommendations from that committee have not been complied with. In a study by the National Institute of Occupational Health, it was found that 16% of the workers were exposed to carcinogenic asbestos fibers but have not yet been compensated or provided with medical or legal remedies.

The 26-year-old ship has changed its name five times since its disaster in Alaska. It has changed hands many times as well. It is not all that old in terms of vessels, but apparently has been deemed too damaged to continue its life. Besides colliding with Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, it also was involved in a 2010 collision with another ship in the South China Sea.