Trafigura: Not the Whole Truth 4 Smell Again

calumcarr.blogspot.co.uk /2011/12/traf igura-not-whole-truth-4-smell-again.html

A series of post s in which I highlight areas where Traf igura, or t hose whose writ ing is support ive of t hem, does not t ell t he whole t rut h. There will be t rut h, possibly a lot of t rut h, in t he st at ement s I look at but all is not as it seems. [UPDATE: added 21.30 on 3 Dec 2011: I dont allege t hat t he Not t he Whole Trut hs are deliberat e.] In the first three posts I havent got past the first paragraph in Trafiguras 38 page document, Trafigura and the Probo Koala on page 4 after the index. I stay with this paragraph for more about the smell [see post 1], mention of which is missing from Trafiguras description of the attempted discharge of waste in Amsterdam.

In 2006 Trafigura time chartered the Probo Koala, a tanker, for the transportation of oil products. The vessel carried out a procedure for caustic washing on several cargoes of one such product, coker naphtha, and needed to discharge a relatively small amount of residual waste (often referred to as slops). Coker naphtha is a commonly available and widely traded product. The discharge and treatment of slops and waste materials from all vessels, including crude oil and product carriers, is an everyday occurrence around the world.

But they did know about the smell. In the last post I quoted a Trafigura email. Here I use an extract:

Caustic washes are banned by most countries due to the hazardous nature of the waste (mercaptans, phenols, smell)

Trafigura knew in December 2005, almost 6 months before the Probo Koala docked in Amsterdam, that the waste would be smelly. Naeem Ahmed, who sent the email and knew that the waste would be smelly and disposal expensive, was also the person who emailed APS to get a quote for the discharge. He makes no mention of the smell. He doesnt query the cost. Not t he Whole Trut h !

The APS quote was $36 / cubic meter but the cost Trafigura knew they would have to pay at the specialist company in Rotterdam was $250000 / cubic meter. Not t he Whole Trut h ! On July 23 last year, an Amsterdam court also found Trafigura guilty of hiding the cargo's real nature when it arrived in Amsterdam. Judges however acquitted the company of forgery. [Courtesy of AFP ] Not t he Whole Trut h !