Oil trader Trafigura, the Amstelveen-based owner of the chemical waste on the tanker Probo Koala, has admitted the ship was used to blend different benzines while at sea, after previously maintaining it was only used for transport and storage.

Toxic waste from the ship is thought to have killed eight people after being dumped in Ivory Coast when Trafigura decided it was too expensive to dispose of it in Amsterdam. Trafigura also admitted that sister ship Probo Emu, heading for Norway to be processed, contains the same waste as the Probo Koala.