Press Release – Norwegian ambassador undermines Norwegian law
Bellona and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, along with several stakeholders within Norway's recycling and waste industry, have sent an open letter to the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment. They strongly denounce the statements made by Norway's ambassador to Bangladesh, Espen Rikter-Svendsen, who in several international media outlets has urged Norwegian shipowners to send ships there for scrapping.
In the letter to Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide and Climate and Environment Minister Anders Bjelland Eriksen, it is emphasised that Norway's ambassador to Bangladesh has encouraged violations of Norwegian and European legislation.
For many years, Bellona and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform have worked to end unethical and environmentally harmful ship scrapping on the beaches of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. The senders of the letter, which include both interest organisations and companies, aim to spotlight Norway's capacity for effective waste management and material recovery. To date, eight Norwegian yards are included in the EU list of approved ship recycling facilities.
The senders of the letter are:
- Miljøstiftelsen Bellona
- NGO Shipbreaking Platform
- Norsk Industri
- Avfall Norge
- Norsk Forening for Farlig Avfall (NFFA)
- NG Group
- Stena Recycling
- Green Yard
- Fosen Gjenvinning
- Norscrap
- AF Offshore Decom
Related news
Platform publishes South Asia Quarterly Update #33
Six workers suffered an accident on South Asian beaches in the first quarter of 2023.
... Read More
Press Release – Platform publishes list of ships dismantled worldwide in 2021
763 ocean-going commercial ships and floating offshore units were sold to the scrap yards in 2021. Of these, 583 ended up on the beaches of South Asia, amounting to near the totality of the gross tonnage dismantled globally.
... Read More
Press Release – Investigations on the Harrier tighten as it reaches Turkey for recycling
Norwegian press DN revealed this summer that Aqualis Offshore and insurance company Skuld Maritime Agency are under investigation for their involvement in the attempt to illegally export… Read More
Platform publishes South Asia Quarterly Update #41
Fourteen workers suffered an accident on South Asian beaches in the first quarter of 2025.
... Read More
Platform News – Latest report on ship recycling in Turkey presented in Izmir
Attending the event, representatives from local NGOs, unions and concerned citizens engaged in a constructive dialogue.
... Read More
Press Release – Turkey demands new survey of massive toxic warship before import
Turkish authority Eyyüp KARAHAN, General Director of Environmental Management, wrote to Brazilian IBAMA, requiring a new IHM to be conducted prior the export.
... Read More
Platform News – The new lobbyist of beaching, Maersk, ignores concerns of environmental and human rights experts
When Maersk decided earlier this year to sell two end-of-life ships to beaching yards in Alang, India, a broad coalition of European environmental and human rights NGOs… Read More

