A day after the Northern Endeavour arrived in Denmark, allegations have been levelled at the Australian government – which in effect owns the vessel after it was forced to step in when the previous owner went bankrupt – accusing it of breaking its own laws in failing to acquire the correct permits for the vessel's export.

Once it is decided a ship is to be decommissioned, it is viewed as waste and if a decision is taken to decommission and dismantle it overseas, permits are needed to lawfully move it across borders, especially if going to an OECD developing nation.

In 2022 the Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) lodged its plans with the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) to deal with the vessel's decommissioning.

In an August 2025 document DCCEEW attached conditions to the decommissioning plans. 

One of them states that to minimise harm to protected matters from the potential inadequate management of hazardous wastes, the approval holder must…

However, an email obtained under an FOI request from the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), suggests that on 25 October 2025 - more than a month after the FPSO left its moorings - the government was still working to obtain the permit to move the vessel to Singapore. 

The revelation comes in an email exchange entitled "Follow up Q for DCCEEW and DEPA - Basel import permit" in which the email's anonymous author discusses the permit issue with DISR.

While the Northern Endeavour left the Laminaria and Corallina fields in the Timor Sea on 24 September and arrived in Singaporean waters on 13 October, an email dated 25 October suggests the permit was yet to be obtained:

Basel

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal was adopted on 22 March 1989 by the Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Basel, Switzerland, in response to public concerns in the 1980s about toxic waste being exported to developing nations.

Under the Convention, exporters of hazardous waste can only take the waste out of their jurisdiction once the transit and import states have granted their approval. This is to make sure waste is capable of being handled safely before it is transported to its destination.

Australia signed the Basel Convention in 1989, ratified the Convention on 5 February 1992 coming into force three months later.

ACF campaigner Freja Leonard says with the production of the FOI document, "It appears the export of the Northern Endeavour for disposal overseas may have been unlawful under Australian and international law."

The ACF has today written to DCCEEW – which oversees possible breaches of the Convention – to raise their concerns the Commonwealth environmental approval and the Basel Convention may have been breached. 

Government scrutiny

The government's handling of the decommissioning project has been under intense scrutiny, with vocal industry voices querying why the vessel was sent to Denmark for decommissioning rather than being dealt with domestically.

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) says the ACF's FOI documents expose a "serious lack of transparency and a fundamental gap" in Australia's regulation of hazardous waste from offshore oil and gas decommissioning, highlighting broader issues with the disposal of ageing infrastructure and vessels.

Thomas Mayo, the MUA's assistant national secretary, said: "The way the Northern Endeavour has been handled assume there is a functioning control system in place. That hazardous waste movements are subject to oversight, consent and accountability. That is not what is happening here.

"Three FPSOs should be in Australian yards being processed today...but all have been exported. That's the bigger picture right there. This can and must be rectified before another tonne of steel goes over the horizon."

Concerns about the permits have swirling for some time, with suspicions permission may have been obtained initially from Singaporean authorities to allow transit through their waters but not one which entitled the vessel to dock and stay while repairs were conducted.

In early November a spokesperson from the Singaporean National Environment Agency (NEA) confirmed to ENB that "In line with the Basel Convention's requirements, Australia has sought Singapore's Prior Informed Consent (PIC) for the entry of Northern Endeavour into Singapore," adding that a Basel Transit Permit for the Northern Endeavour's transit through Singapore was issued on 24 September.

Subsequently, almost a fortnight later, the NEA spokesperson said: "Australia sought Singapore's PIC for the entry of Northern Endeavour into Singapore earlier this year," while failing to confirm if PIC was formally granted.

On 5 November, in response to a query from ENB to DISR about the permits, a government spokesperson said: "The Northern Endeavour left the field and entered Singapore with the required permits, with the FPSO now securely docked at a Singapore shipyard with works well underway."

Today, a DCCEEW spokesperson provided a statement to ENB which reiterated the acquisition of a "transit permit" which they said entitled the FPSO to dock in Singapore.

"The Northern Endeavour departed the field and entered Singapore with the required Basel transit permit. DCCEEW as the Basel Convention Competent Authority for Australia assisted DISR in obtaining all other required Basel transit permits and the import permit into Denmark, which were issued prior to the departure of the Northern Endeavour from Singapore," they said.

Similarly, a spokesperson from DISR disputed the ACF claims saying the Northern Endeavour departed the field and entered Singapore with the required Basel transit permit.

"Working with DCCEEW as the Basel Convention Competent Authority for Australia, the department obtained all other required Basel transit permits and the import permit into Denmark, which were issued prior to the departure of the Northern Endeavour from Singapore," they said.

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Click here to read ENB's deep dive on the Northern Endeavour's history.