Author: Nicola Mulinaris

Save The Date – Ship Recycling Lab 2026: Transformation Through Innovation

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

After the successful organisation of two editions of the Ship Recycling Lab: Transformation Through Innovation back in 2022 and 2024, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, still recognising the need for visionary solutions for ship recycling, is ready to host its third edition of the Lab on 14 -15 October 2026 in Marseille, France.

The event will bring together forward-thinking stakeholders from the maritime, recycling and steel sectors, financial institutions and policy makers to showcase and exchange ideas for best practices and strategies for ship demolition, design, waste management and material recovery in line with ethical circular policy goals.

Providing visibility to companies that have developed solutions, including innovative cutting techniques, new state-of-the-art waste handling procedures, cradle to cradle concept design, and clean steel breakthrough technologies aimed at achieving a zero-carbon steel making process, the Lab intends to set the bar for tomorrow’s ship recycling.

Come join us and 100+ progressive stakeholders for networking opportunities, inspiring keynote speaker sessions, thought-provoking presentations and interactive panel discussions.

Early bird tickets are now on sale! Get them fast before they run out!

Ship Recycling Lab 2024, Lisbon, Portugal

Press Release – Environmental NGOs urge action after European Commission study exposes abuse of vessel flagging rules

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

As the European Union positions itself as a global leader on ocean governance during the EU Ocean Days in Brussels and publishes its new Maritime Industrial Strategy, civil society organisations working on ocean environmental protection, labour rights, transparency, and maritime security warn that a major governance gap remains unaddressed: the widespread use of flags of convenience (FoCs).

The call follows the publication of a recent European Commission study on the use of open registries as flags of convenience, which confirms that this system allows regulatory evasion and undermines the EU’s environmental, social, fiscal and security objectives. Yet, despite a week of high-level discussions on Europe’s maritime future and the release of the EU’s strategy to strengthen the competitiveness of the maritime sector, the issue of flags of convenience and the study’s findings have so far received little political attention and no clear follow-up.

The study highlights how FoCs rely on opaque ownership structures, weak oversight, and poor enforcement of international rules, enabling harmful practices that directly contradict EU standards, global commitments, and put responsible flag States at an unfair disadvantage. Serious concerns related to how FoCs facilitate pollution and illegal dumping, the exploitation of seafarers and shipbreaking workers, and contribute to tax avoidance and illegal fishing, are raised in the report.

The co-signing organisations stress that it is not acceptable for the EU shipping and fishing sectors to continue operating under structures that directly undermine EU environmental, fisheries, fiscal and safety policies, while at the same time benefiting from access to EU markets and resources.

Oceana: “Flags of convenience are a major enabler of illegal fishing worldwide. They allow operators to hide their identity, evade sanctions and continue fishing illegally under new flags. The European Commission’s study confirms what civil society has long demanded: without full transparency on who owns, controls and profits from fishing vessels, the EU cannot credibly combat illegal fishing and protect the marine environment.”

 

WWF European Policy Office: “By its very nature, illegal fishing is hard to detect and monitor. Flags of convenience make that job exponentially harder, harming the fishers who follow the rules but suffer when fish stocks run low. As one of the world’s top seafood importers, the EU must lead by example and maintain a zero-tolerance approach to illegal fishing, including flags of convenience.”

 

Opportunity Green: "International shipping benefits from multiple gaps in international governance, allowing it to have large climate impacts without even paying the standard taxes paid by most corporations. The EU needs to look at the entire shipping industry and ensure that, instead of companies earning billions without paying taxes, they are subject to the same standard regulations as all other industries. The flag of convenience regime is an unnecessary exemption from usual rules given to a polluting industry."

 

NGO Shipbreaking Platform: “The study’s findings expose severe governance failures at the end of a ship’s life. Flags such as St Kitts and Nevis, Comoros, Palau and Tuvalu are widely used for last voyages to the shipbreaking beaches in South Asia, to circumvent EU regulations on the scrapping of toxic ships. The Commission has already recognised flag-swapping as the key obstacle to implementing the Ship Recycling Regulation. Yet, no further action has been taken to fix this issue and hold shipowners accountable.”

The Commission’s own findings make clear that flags of convenience are not an enforcement anomaly but a structural governance failure driven by a prioritisation of profits, which results in reduced effectiveness of regulatory frameworks and lenient oversight.

In light of the study’s evidence, the co-signing organisations call on the European Commission to:

- Close the data gap that allows the proliferation of flags of convenience by requiring comprehensive and reliable data on vessel beneficial ownership, flag history, and compliance records across all maritime sectors, including mandatory disclosure for foreign-flagged vessels owned or controlled by EU interests;

- Collaborate with EU Member States to systematically collect and regularly share relevant vessel information with international databases and monitoring platforms, including the FAO Global Record of Fishing Vessels, Refrigerated Transport Vessels and Supply Vessels and relevant Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO) vessel registries to curb illegal fishing;

- Integrate decisive measures across EU maritime and ocean governance frameworks, including the upcoming EU Ocean Act, fisheries policy, tax governance, maritime security and ship recycling rules, to discourage and prevent the use of flags of convenience.

The co-signing organisations urge the EU to act without delay to discourage, disincentivise or dismantle those structures that enable such practices and to secure the long-term sustainability, integrity, and credibility of EU maritime governance.

Benedetta Mantoan, Policy Manager, NGO Shipbreaking Platform

Irene Campmany Canes, Senior Communications Officer, Oceana in Europe

Amélie Giardini, Global Lead for Transparency, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF)

Aoife O’Leary, CEO, Opportunity Green

Jacob Armstrong, Policy Manager, WWF European Policy Office

 

NOTES

 

[1] A flag of convenience is used when a vessel is registered in a country with which its owner has no genuine link, allowing operators to benefit from low costs and taxes, weak controls and limited enforcement. This practice creates regulatory havens at sea and enables environmental damage, labour exploitation and illegal fishing.

 

 

Press Release – Turkish civil society organisations reiterate their call to remove Aliağa shipbreaking yards from the EU list amid environmental damage and systemic negligence

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

Members of Turkish organisations raise alarm about critical levels of pollution in Aliağa, as well as severe systemic mismanagement, and continue their call to remove Turkish shipbreaking yards from the EU list of ship recycling facilities until necessary improvements are introduced by the Turkish authorities and the yards.

 

On 24 February, representatives of Turkish civil society organisations [1] met with representatives of the European Commission from DG ENV. Supported by Brussels-based NGO Shipbreaking Platform and the European Environmental Bureau, the organisations informed the Commission about the severe environmental degradation caused by shipbreaking activities in Aliağa, as well as pending legal cases [2] addressing systemic issues in the sector. 

An open letter requesting the removal of Aliağa-based shipbreaking yards was sent to the European Commission in November last year, in which the parties requested the removal of Turkish yards from the EU list based on de facto double operating standards and significant environmental and health risks. 

According to a recent report, the area is heavily contaminated with Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). These pollutants, some of which are currently regulated or banned under the Aarhus Protocol and the Stockholm Convention, come from industrial activities, and are very difficult to remove from the environment once they have been released. The findings show that the shipbreaking area contains the highest levels of POPs, clearly pointing to the ship recycling yards as the main source of contamination.  

Several serious incidents at Aliağa shipbreaking yards have occurred these past months, including at yards that remain on the EU List. On 20 February, during the dismantling of the LILY HA (IMO 8116972) at Avşar Ship Recycling yard, an EU-listed facility, unidentified liquid substances were discharged directly into the sea. The incident was reported by a local whistleblower, who alerted the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, as well as the European Commission. Avşar has stated to the NGO Shipbreaking Platform that the liquid thrown overboard the LILY HA was a biochemical cleaner used to remedy pollution originating from outside their yard, and in line with the facility's relevant procedures. No incident report is, however, available. 

Another accident happened on 8 January at the EU-listed Leyal yard, where GNV Antares (IMO 8503797) collided with an oil platform in the neighbouring Metaş yard, causing serious damage and flooding at the stern, including the engine room.  Since then, oil residue, likely mixed with other pollutants, has been continuously and deliberately being discharged into the sea through pipes. 

As seen in a video taken on 28 January, the tower of the oil rig that crashed into the GNV Antares was pulled down and dropped directly into the sea during dismantling operations.

The problems caused by the shipbreaking activities in Aliağa, including incidents such as those mentioned above, were thoroughly examined in the report on Turkish yards written by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform. 

NGO Shipbreaking Platform supports the Turkish civil society organisations and backs their call to cancel the EU approvals for Aliağa-based shipbreaking yards, and furthermore requests that the EU thoroughly investigate the recent incidents that have occurred at EU approved facilities. We also call on Turkish authorities to effectively monitor, take action to clamp down on breaches, and support the transitioning of the sector to industrial solutions that can ensure full containment. The recent incidents illustrate the inherent risks of using the landing method which should be phased out.  

"NGO Shipbreaking Platform supports the Turkish civil society organisations and backs their call to cancel the EU approvals for Aliağa-based shipbreaking yards, and furthermore requests that the EU thoroughly investigate the recent incidents that have occurred at EU approved facilities. We also call on Turkish authorities to effectively monitor, take action to clamp down on breaches, and support the transitioning of the sector to industrial solutions that can ensure full containment. The recent incidents illustrate the inherent risks of using the landing method which should be phased out. "
Ekin Sakin - Policy Officer - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

The EU List of ship recycling facilities currently contains 10 ship recycling yards in Turkey. Since 2016, 4 Turkish yards have been removed from the EU list. 

 

NOTES

 

[1] Representatives of the following organisations were present: Izmir Medical Chamber, Istanbul Health and Safety Watch, Aegean Environment and Culture Platform, Izmir Living Spaces, Foça Environmental Platform, Turkish Medical Association, Foça Platform Against the Plundering of History and Nature, İzmir Chambers of Environmental Engineers. 

 

[2] Shipbreaking facilities in Turkey are exempt from the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure, which is mandatory for the EU-located yards. The exemption issue is currently pending before the Constitutional Court of Turkey. 

 

 

Press Release – EU Industrial Maritime Strategy: Commitment to boost EU-based ship recycling capacity must be backed by concrete funding and measures and a true level playing field

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

The European Commission published on Wednesday 5 March its Industrial Maritime Strategy, an important milestone in supporting the European maritime industry. While the strategy acknowledges the importance of ship recycling and the need to strengthen the sector within the EU, it lacks actionable measures to scale up capacity. The strategy’s reference to cooperating with India moreover risks accentuating the unfair competition currently faced by EU yards which today remain underutilised. Without clear targeted support, and an unambiguous plan to boost domestic capacity, the EU risks missing a critical opportunity to meet its climate and circularity objectives.

Although EU/EFTA shipping companies own over 35% of the global fleet, only 1% of EU-owned ships are today dismantled in the EU. According to our research, about 12 000 EU/EFTA-owned vessels will become eligible for scrapping in the next decade. Boosting European capacities for ship recycling is therefore timely and will provide key sectors with access to high quality scrap steel, as recently called for by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, EUROFER and Recycling Europe.

In this context, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform welcomes the European Commission’s commitment to “explore ways to support the expansion of domestic EU ship recycling capacity”. As outlined in our report Scrap Steel at Sea, ship scrap steel represents a valuable feedstock for steel producers, who, by using scrap instead of virgin materials, can achieve substantial savings in water and energy, reduction of CO2 emissions, while also reducing reliance on imported raw materials vulnerable to geopolitical disruptions. 

While the Industrial Maritime Strategy signals a step in the right direction, clear commitments are, however, needed to ensure that the targeted funds announced for the maritime industry give specific attention to developing a competitive European ship recycling sector.

The announced EU Industrial Maritime Value Chains Alliance could in that regard play a pivotal role by mapping existing ship recycling capacities, identifying the investments required to scale them up in response to the forthcoming surge of end-of-life vessels, and assessing the associated job creation potential.  

The strategic importance of the EU ship recycling sector in strengthening the bloc’s material resilience should furthermore be explicitly aligned with the other key policies, such as the Industrial Accelerator Act and Circular Economy Act. Finally, to effectively enable broader uptake of low-carbon maritime scrap-based or upcycled steel in lead markets, binding criteria for recycled content in public procurement [1] should be adopted.

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform supports the European Commission’s commitment to engage at the international level to strengthen the Hong Kong Convention [2] and align it with the EU Ship Recycling Regulation. However, while ensuring fair competition with third countries is one of the Commission’s main objectives, the Strategy does not address the unfair competition faced by EU ship recycling yards, including from substandard non-EU yards approved under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation. Also, as the Commission commits to "work with trading partners with ship-recycling capacity, starting with India [3], to foster high environmental and social standard”, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform warns that Indian shipbreaking yards still rely fully on the beaching method and that any rubberstamping of this lowest standard in ship recycling, not allowed in the EU, would undermine efforts aimed at boosting EU capacity and a level playing field that fosters fair competition.  

"India currently does not have the capacities to recycle ships in a safe and environmentally sound manner. EU cooperation with third countries, including India, on ship recycling, must be based on the enforcement of strict social, occupational health and environmental standards as applied in the EU, clearly banning harmful practices such as beaching or landing as practiced in South Asia and Turkey respectively. Besides, international and EU waste laws are clear on the illegality of exporting hazardous waste, including end-of-life ships, from the EU to India."
Ingvild Jenssen - Founder and Executive Director - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform stands ready to collaborate with the Commission and maritime stakeholders to implement the Industrial Maritime Strategy and go beyond to ensure that effective measures are in place to foster the safe and environmentally sound dismantling of all European ships. 

 

NOTES

 

[1] Additionally, as the Commission plans to leverage public procurement in relevant segments, such as ferries or research vessels, it should also consider making it mandatory for public vessels to be recycled within the EU. Notably, Germany currently sends its military ships for recycling in Aliağa, Turkey. 

[2] The Hong Kong Convention does not provide for safe and environmentally sound ship recycling as it lacks robust safety, environmental and labour protection standards, fails to prohibit the beaching method, and ignores the management and accountability of hazardous wastes downstream, rubber-stamping with that unsafe and polluting shipbreaking practices that continue to harm workers, local communities and fragile coastal ecosystems. 

[3] This only comes a few weeks after the EU announced planning to “pursue cooperation [with India] to support sustainable ship recycling activities.”

 

Press Release – U.S. Shipping Line Matson backtracks on commitment to not dump their old ships on South Asian Beaches

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

Environmental and Human Rights Groups condemn decision as Mokihana sails out of the U.S. to India

 

The Basel Action Network (BAN) and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform today condemned Matson Shipping Lines for proceeding with the export of its former U.S.-flagged vessel MOKIHANA for scrapping at the notorious shipbreaking beaches of Alang, India. This last voyage is a blatant reversal of Matson’s policy established together with BAN and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform in 2015 (1) to avoid beach-based ship dismantling, and represents a serious affront to the company’s stated ESG commitments.

 

The vessel has now been reflagged to St. Kitts and Nevis, a flag of convenience commonly used for end-of-life ships headed for scrapping, and renamed MOKHIA. According to publicly available vessel tracking data, the ship is listed as en route to Bhavnagar, India, the port serving the Alang shipbreaking yards.

 

As of 2 February 2026 at 14:42 UTC, the vessel was reported to be operating under its own power in the Pacific Ocean, at approximately 23.98° N latitude and 149.61° E longitude, with an estimated arrival in Bhavnagar on 25 February 2026.

"This sequence of actions - reflagging, renaming, and dispatching the vessel to the Alang region - is a regrettable retreat from corporate responsibility and appropriate end-of-life ship management policy. It directly contradicts Matson’s prior public commitments to avoid beach-based shipbreaking and is a violation of the Basel Convention, calling into question the credibility of Matson’s ESG commitments."
Jim Puckett - Founder and Chief of Strategic Direction - BAN

In 2015, Matson publicly committed to ending the use of South Asian tidal beaches for shipbreaking, following international criticism of the environmental and human-health impacts of the practice. The decision to send MOKHIA to Bhavnagar marks a clear policy reversal, returning to the very practices Matson once pledged to abandon.

 

In a letter to BAN and the NGO Platform, Ms. Rachel Lee, the company’s Vice President of Sustainability and Governance, cited exporting to a beaching facility that supposedly adheres to the Hong Kong Convention as a rationalization for the export. However, in India no shipbreaking yards have so far been authorized under the Hong Kong Convention. Moreover, the Hong Kong Convention does not regulate transboundary waste movements, a gap long criticized by environmental and labor organizations, while the Basel Convention explicitly governs such exports and forbids trade between Parties like India and non-Parties like the United States. Under the Basel Convention, end-of-life vessels containing any forms of hazardous materials are considered hazardous waste, and their export is strictly controlled and in this case, prohibited.

"Beaching remains the most dangerous and polluting form of ship disposal in the world. But companies continue to make use of the beaching yards because this practice offers significantly lower costs than safe, contained recycling alternatives, often through the exploitation of desperate and vulnerable labor forces (2). Changing the name of the ship and its flag does not change the environmental reality on the ground, or the lack of corporate responsibility for sending it there.”"
Ingvild Jenssen - Founder and Executive Director - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

BAN and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform emphasize that the dismantling of end-of-life ships on tidal mudflats externalizes toxic risks onto workers and coastal communities, exposing them to hazardous substances such as asbestos, heavy metals and oil residues, and undermines global efforts to promote safe, contained, and truly sustainable ship recycling.

"This is not responsible recycling. It is a retreat from leadership, and a direct contradiction of Matson’s own ESG narrative."
Jim Puckett - Founder and Chief of Strategic Direction - BAN

The organizations are calling on regulators, investors, and customers to scrutinize Matson’s actions closely and to demand that the company immediately recommit to abiding by the Basel Convention, as well as to only utilize off-the-beach, fully contained ship recycling methods, and protecting the human rights of the world’s most vulnerable laborers.

Press Release – Platform publishes list of ships dismantled worldwide in 2025

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform publishes its 2025 annual list of ships dismantled worldwide. The data reveals that 85% of the global tonnage scrapped last year was broken down on three beaches in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.

 

321 vessels were dismantled globally last year, of which 214 ended up in South Asia. Bangladesh and India remain the shipping industry’s first choices for scrapping, despite the documented grave consequences beaching ships has on workers, local communities and fragile coastal ecosystems. Eleven workers lost their lives in South Asia in 2025, with at least another sixty-two workers injured due to unsafe working practices.

 

One of the most serious incidents occurred at Ziri Subedar yard in Chattogram, Bangladesh, where an oil tank explosion injured eight workers during the dismantling operations of the BANGLAR JYOTI, a vessel owned by the Government of Bangladesh.

 

Bangladesh has already approved seventeen yards under the International Maritime Organisation’s Hong Kong Convention (HKC), which entered into force in June 2025. Yet, serious accidents continue to occur even at these yards, and incident reporting remains opaque or entirely absent. While in India no shipbreaking yards have so far been authorised under the HKC, more than 100 shipbreaking plots in Alang-Sosiya hold private Statements of Compliance with the Convention’s requirements.

"Clearly, the Hong Kong Convention does not set a standard that ensures safe and environmentally sound practices. Now under review at the IMO, it will be key to bolster its requirements, including ways to phase out the fatally flawed beaching method. At the same time, better enforcement of the Basel Convention’s restrictions on hazardous waste trade need to be ensured through measures that effectively hold the shipping industry accountable. This entails shifting responsibility to the states that actually have control over the owners of assets intended for disposal."
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director and Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform
Chattogram's shipbreaking beach in Bangladesh - January 2026 - © Spencer Call
Alang's shipbreaking beach in India - 2025 - © RTS
Shipbreaking in Chattogram, Bangladesh - January 2026 - © Spencer Call
Shipbreaking in Chattogram, Bangladesh - January 2026 - © Spencer Call

 

The Platform also warns that the low number of ships that have been scrapped these past years due to favourable operating rates hides a growing backlog of aging tonnage that is expected to head for the breaking yards in the coming years. Included in the backlog are hundreds of tankers operating in the so-called dark fleet, some of which in 2025 were claimed to be illicitly traded to Indian beaching yards using cash, crypto and foreign currencies to avoid sanctions. These developments, combined with indications that the dark fleet may be far larger than widely assumed, risk fuelling a parallel and opaque shipbreaking economy where safety standards, environmental protections, and waste controls will remain easily bypassed.

"The many vessels that will be heading for scrap, including the dark fleet, must be recycled at safe, transparent, and fully regulated facilities — away from beaching practices. Existing facilities that already meet these standards, including ship recycling yards in the European Union, continue to operate at significant under-capacity, underscoring that safe alternatives do exist but remain systematically overlooked by the shipping sector."
Nicola Mulinaris - Senior Communication and Policy Advisor - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

DUMPERS 2025 – Worst practices

 

China tops the 2025 Dumpers List, with 21 Chinese-owned vessels sold to South Asian shipbreakers, mainly in Bangladesh. This despite China’s domestic capacity to recycle ships in dry-dock facilities. 

 

South Korea and the UAE are close runner-ups to Worst Dumpers, with 19 and 17 vessels beached, respectively. More than 60 vessels furthermore departed from these countries’ territorial waters for dismantling in South Asia. The UAE Ship Recycling Regulation, which entered into force in June 2025, however, explicitly prohibits vessels from leaving UAE territorial waters for scrapping at beaching- and landing yards, as these methods are not deemed safe and environmentally sound. International law is also clear: all transboundary movements of hazardous waste, including end-of-life ships, need to obtain Prior Informed Consent (PIC) in line with the Basel Convention and only be approved when safe and environmentally sound practices all the way to disposal are ensured. Exports of end-of-life ships from OECD to non-OECD countries are furthermore banned by international law, breaches of which are considered serious environmental crimes, as witnessed by cases brought to European courts.

 

Greek shipping magnate Vangelis Marinakis is the 2025 Worst Corporate Dumper. A Reporters United investigation into the illegal end-of-life sale of the tanker TRADER III — linked to companies controlled by Marinakis — shows how one of Europe’s most powerful shipping figures profits on selling toxic ships to Bangladesh, enabled by what a senior Greek official describes as a “policy of deliberate indifference”. The report traces the vessel’s final voyage from Turkey through Greek waters and onward to Chattogram, where it was beached at KR Ship Recycling Industries yard on 15 March 2025, completing several transactions designed to evade EU laws and externalise the costs of safely managing toxic waste to vulnerable communities and ecosystems in the Global South. Another Marinakis-linked tanker, the TRADER II, met the same fate on the same beach in September.

 

The TRADER II beached in Chattogram, Bangladesh in January 2026 - © Spencer Call

 

Other well-known owners — including Norwegian Green Reefers and Odfjell, South Korean H-Line, Hyundai LNG Shipping and SK Shipping, Cypriot cruise company Louis PLC, Greek Polys Haji-Ioannou Group, Japanese NYK Line and Mitsui OSK, and Swiss MSC — have contributed to the shipping industry’s toxic footprint, sending their end-of-life vessels for scrapping in the Global South. Lila Global, acting as the ship-owning arm of cash buyer GMS, also sent several vessels to yards in Bangladesh and India.

 

Recently, the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) adopted new decommissioning guidelines urging its members to avoid beaching and intermediaries such as cash buyers. While IOGP members Petrobras, SBM, and Shell already follow these guidelines, gas carriers and traders such as US-controlled Seapeak [1] and Thai Siamgas externalise their costs onto vulnerable communities and the environment in Bangladesh. According to local sources two workers lost their lives during beaching operations of the SEAPEAK ASIA, owned by Seapeak. The body of one shipbreaking worker and the severed body parts of another were recovered on the coast. A co-worker of the deceased and witness to the incident told media correspondents that they were struck by the SEAPEAK ASIA during night-time operations at KR Ship Recycling Yard, a plot authorised under the IMO’s Hong Kong Convention. 

 

The SEAPEAK ASIA beached in Chattogram, Bangladesh in January 2026 - © Spencer Call

 

This fatal incident is not an isolated workplace tragedy, but part of a wider end-of-life shipping model in which regulatory loopholes and weak oversight converge at the point of dismantling. Vessels’ end-of-life phase is increasingly recognised as high-risk for environmental violations and financial crime. The widespread use of Flags of Convenience (FOCs), layered ownership structures, and offshore intermediaries enables shipowners to evade regulation and obscure accountability. Prior scrapping, vessels are commonly reflagged to a small group of low-oversight FOCs — such as Comoros, Palau, St. Kitts and Nevis — a practice known as flag-hopping and which allows easy circumvention of the EU Ship Recycling Regulation and Hong Kong Convention. In the case of the SEAPEAK ASIA, the vessel’s rapid flag changes — from Spain to the Bahamas in September, and again in December to St Kitts and Nevis — appear designed to evade the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, which requires EU-flagged ships to be scrapped only in EU-approved yards. No yards in South Asia are on the EU List as they do not comply with the Regulation’s requirements. 

 

According to a recently published European Commission report, profits from scrap vessel sales — inflated by avoiding EU-compliant dismantling requirements — can be channelled through shell companies in low-tax jurisdictions using FOCs to disguise beneficial ownership, evade taxation, and launder proceeds linked to other illicit maritime activities such as illegal fishing or sanctions evasion.

 

Turkey is one of the few non-EU destinations that can receive EU-flagged end-of-life vessels — yet its ship recycling sector has come under mounting scrutiny. In Aliağa, civil society groups have challenged the sector’s EIA exemption and filed a criminal complaint alleging systemic regulatory failure. Public pressure led to calls for the EU to withdraw approvals for all yards, a call now also supported by 20 Turkish MPs.

 

In the last months, the sector in Aliağa saw three fatal accidents, including one at EU approved facility Temurtaşlar, and a major fire at Simsekler yard involving the FSO SLOUG, which still held an estimated 6,000 tons of petroleum. Meanwhile, Aliağa Municipality uncovered illegal dumpsites containing 15,000 tons of hazardous waste originating from the ship recycling sector.

 

At the EU level, broader economic and industrial transformations aimed at enhancing clean industries are taking place. Trade unions, the recycling and steel sectors, and civil society organisations are calling on the EU to curb the export of EU owned end-of-life vessels that may cause harm to third countries and recognise the role maritime secondary steel can play in decarbonising not only steel production, but also construction. 

"Emerging regional strategies, such as those focused on strategic autonomy in raw materials, have renewed attention on scrap steel, bringing ship recycling into focus as a valuable source of high-quality materials. Companies like CMA CGM and Höegh Autoliners are already engaging with the steel sector and innovative start-ups such as Oppsirk, and by that stepping forward as market drivers for solutions that will enhance decarbonisation and circularity."
Benedetta Mantoan - Policy Officer - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

NOTE

[1] The company is a globally operating entity, formed from Canadian Teekay LNG Partners and now controlled by US private equity firm Stonepeak.




For the data visualization of 2025 shipbreaking records, click here. *

For the full Excel dataset of all ships dismantled worldwide in 2025, click here. *

 

* The data gathered by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform is sourced from different outlets and stakeholders, and is cross-checked whenever possible. The data upon which this information is based is correct to the best of the Platform’s knowledge, and the Platform takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information provided. The Platform will correct or complete data if any inaccuracy is signaled. All data which has been provided is publicly available and does not reveal any confidential business information.

 

Platform publishes South Asia Quarterly Update #44

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

In this quarterly publication, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform informs about the shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Providing an overview of accidents that took place on the beaches of South Asia and recent on-the-ground developments, including our activities, we aim to inform the public about the negative impacts of substandard shipbreaking practices as well as positive steps aimed at the realisation of environmental justice and the protection of workers’ rights. 

 

One session in this Update offers an insightful interview with our Indian member organisation Toxics Link.

Click here or on the image below to access the full version of our quarterly report. 

Press Release – Fatal accidents in Aliağa continue to raise serious concerns on Turkish shipbreaking yards’ safety

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

In the last four months, Aliağa ship recycling workers have faced three tragic fatal accidents. Despite repeated warnings by civil society organisations, inadequate occupational safety measures, insufficient inspections, and weak enforcement of labour and environmental regulations continue to threaten the lives of workers and cause accidents that could have been prevented. 

Several members of the Turkish Parliament join the NGOs in denouncing the conditions at the shipbreaking yards and call on the European Union to revoke approval of such practices.  

"During meetings we held in Aliağa, almost every worker shared a ‘near-miss’ story. With wages that are below the poverty line, workers are forced to accept constant risk of occupational death. While it is impossible for the Ministry of Labour and Social Security not to be aware of this situation, the responses we receive to our parliamentary questions are limited to ‘copy-and-paste’ reminders of existing legislation. Moreover, although the necessary regulations have not been implemented, EU certifications are still in place. To stop occupational deaths and ensure decent wages, it is imperative that workers trust one another, unite, and act in an organised manner. We will continue to stand by workers’ struggle and to amplify their voices and their fight."
Iskender Bayhan - Member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey - The Labour Party

On 11 January, Salih Ataman, 49, died at Blade ship recycling yard in Aliağa, Turkey, when a massive hook detached from a crane and fell on him. Salih Ataman was dismantling the Discoverer Americas, a drillship owned by US-based Transocean Ltd.

Last year, another fatal accident occurred on 13 November at the EU-listed Temurtaşlar yard, where the Dolphin Leader, a ship owned by Dolphin Drilling [1], was being dismantled. Unaware that another worker was cutting the hull on the upper section of the vessel, Hasan Aktepe, 44, died when a large cut-off metal piece fell on him. According to the information provided by the workers from Temurtaşlar, the dismantling of the Dolphin Leader was conducted with lump-sum payments where a bonus is provided if the ship is dismantled rapidly. As highlighted in our report on the conditions at the Turkish ship recycling yards, this practice incentivises an increased pace and prolonged working days in violation of set working hours and official leave times

On 2 October, Halil İbrahim Uz, employed by a subcontractor of İzmir Mavi Denizcilik Geri Dönüşüm ship recycling yard, fell from a height of five meters. Workers raised concerns that the ambulance took at least 45 minutes to arrive. Despite eventual medical intervention, Uz’s life could not be saved. He was 45 years old, married, and had children. 

These recent fatal accidents clearly show that Aliağa-based shipbreaking yards fail to provide essential safety provisions for their workers. The fact that accidents, which could have been avoided, also occur at EU-approved shipbreaking yards should prompt the European Commission to reassess the approval and the monitoring procedures of all Turkish ship recycling yards.  

"We reiterate our call to remove the Aliağa-based shipbreaking yards from the EU list until stricter procedures in terms of occupational safety and the containment of pollutants are put in place. The fact that fatalities and dangerous practices, including payment methods that encourage breaches of labour laws, occur also in EU-listed yards should raise concerns over the EU list’s credibility and the EU auditing procedures of Turkish ship recycling facilities. We cannot accept this double standard, nor that the death rate from workplace accidents in the Aliağa shipbreaking region has consistently been above the Turkish average. Certification of these human rights violations must be halted."
Asli Odman - Istanbul Worker's Health and Safety Watch

NOTES

 

[1] The Bideford Dolphin, an oil platform sent for dismantling to IŞIKSAN where İbrahim Karakaya lost his life in August 2024, and 10 other workers got injured due to a toxic gas leak, was owned by Dolphin Drilling as well.

Press Release – IndustriALL Europe and NGO Shipbreaking Platform call for a robust European Industrial Maritime Strategy for sustainable Ship Recycling and quality jobs

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

IndustriALL Europe and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform issued a joint statement calling on the European Commission to adopt a robust European Industrial Maritime Strategy that places safe and circular ship recycling at the heart of Europe’s maritime manufacturing sector, and acknowledges its strategic importance. 

Ship recycling is a high-skill and labour-intensive activity that could positively contribute to Europe’s circular economy and decarbonisation efforts. Yet, even though around 35% of the global fleet is EU/EFTA-owned, only 1% of these are recycled in EU-approved ship recycling facilities. This represents a large missed opportunity as valuable materials from end-of-life ships, predominantly steel, are lost to foreign markets. In addition, quality jobs in the European industry are threatened due to the unfair competition. 

Since a surge in the number of end-of-life ships to be dismantled is expected in the next decade, the EU must be ready to accommodate this by creating a tailored policy environment. Studies estimate that up to 12 Mt of scrap steel from EoL vessels could be yielded per year, which, in current numbers, would cover approximately 20% of Europe’s scrap steel use. 

"Europe must stop treating ship recycling as mere waste management. The EU Industrial Maritime Strategy is a unique chance to anchor ship recycling as a strategic, circular, and socially responsible activity. It should combine high environmental standards with quality jobs, strong health and safety protections, and long-term skills development. This is not just about sustainability—it’s about securing Europe’s industrial future. Ship recycling can become a pillar of decarbonisation and industrial resilience."
Isabelle Barthès - Deputy Secretary General - IndustriALL Europe

In order to secure secondary raw materials, reinforce industrial autonomy, and create decent jobs across the maritime value chain, the organisations propose concrete policy measures to be clearly embedded in the upcoming Industrial Maritime Strategy: 

- recognise ship recycling as a strategic maritime industry essential for climate, circular economy, and raw materials security and autonomy,  

- close loopholes in the EU Ship Recycling Regulation and the Waste Shipment Regulation that allow ship owners to circumvent obligations and export hazardous waste to third countries, namely by including Beneficial Ownership of vessels, 

- embed strong social conditionality in public funding and industrial support to ensure that ship recycling contributes not only to environmental objectives, but also to high quality industrial employment and long-term skills retention in Europe, 

- prepare for the anticipated wave of end-of-life vessels to be dismantled by supporting the EU ship recycling sector, ensuring safe and environmentally sound recycling of vessels, 

- support creation of jobs in the ship recycling sector, which could revitalise EU regions affected by the decline in shipbuilding sector, on certain conditions: maintaining high occupational health and safety standards in the sector, promoting job stability, including fair and stable contracts for workers, and contributing to skills development in the field, 

- continue supporting innovative projects, such as Oppsirk or CirclesOfLife, that could be scaled up with tailored policy support, and further contribute to EU’s industrial autonomy and resilience. 

"As the number of vessels heading for dismantling is set to increase fivefold in the coming decade, ship recycling cannot be the blind spot of the EU’s Industrial Maritime Strategy. Strengthening European ship-recycling capacities can play a crucial role in enhancing the sector’s competitiveness and strategic autonomy (today, only 1% of EU-EFTA-owned ships are recycled in the EU) while directly contributing to the European Union’s circular economy and decarbonisation objectives. The European Commission cannot miss this opportunity to send a strong signal to the sector, investors and policymakers."
Philippine Bernard - Policy Officer - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

In July last year, NGO Shipbreaking Platform provided feedback to the consultation on the Strategy, where a need for tailored policy support for the EU ship recycling sector was identified. Without decisive EU policy, Europe will continue to lose valuable secondary raw materials to foreign markets, weaken its industrial base, and miss a pivotal chance to create sustainable, high skill jobs. By acting now, the EU can turn ship recycling into a cornerstone of its industrial resilience, climate ambition and social equity.

Press Release – European Commission launches consultation on the 15th update of the EU-approved ship recycling facilities list

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

The European Commission launched its long-awaited consultation on the 15th update of the European List of ship recycling facilities. As the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, we call on the EU to remove all Turkish ship recycling facilities that use the landing method, support the non-inclusion of Indian ‘beaching’ yards, and urge the EU to support capacity development in line with the circularity and decarbonisation objectives.

We welcome the decision to remove the Dörtel ship recycling yard in Aliağa, Turkey. An inspection carried out by the Commission revealed that a ship was being dismantled while still being partially in the water, and the facility was not equipped with an impermeable floor and a slag collector. This could with a high probability lead to contamination of seawater - the main requirements for proper hazardous waste collection and treatment were therefore not met. Therefore, the removal of this facility from the list was indispensable. Although the decision to remove the the Dörtel ship recycling yard in Aliağa, Turkey is a step in the right direction, we find it insufficient.

"Approving yards in third countries that would never be allowed to operate in the EU creates a double standard that undermines not only recyclers that have already invested in truly sustainable methods, but also efforts to improve and scale practices to an acceptable level globally."
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director and Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

Dangerous conditions in Turkish yards continue to reap their toll. In November this year, another worked died when tons of ship scrap fell on him, killing him instantly. This happened at the Temurtaşlar yard, which is an EU-approved facility.

Whereas several Indian yards – where ships are cut on unprotected tidal mudflats – have applied to be included on the European list, and were audited by the European Commission in late 2024, none have been proposed to be added to its most recent edition.

Beaching - the current method used by the Indian yards - does not provide full containment of pollutants; it is not allowed in the EU, explicitly banned in China and the UAE, and has even been identified as a method that needs to be replaced by drydocks by the Indian government in its Maritime India Vision 2030.

In their position submitted to the Commission, the European Shipowners (ESCA) states that the facilities on the EU list have very limited capacities, and their ship recycling activities are predominantly limited to small, often inland-sail vessels. Furthermore, the association complains that Indian ship recycling yards are again not included in the proposed new list.

"Instead of lamenting the exclusion of beaching yards, claiming that they have no other options, ship owners should play an active role in building the needed capacity to sustainably recycle their assets. There is no better time than now to establish cross sectoral synergies with both steel and construction sectors to boost circularity and ensure the availability of industrial platforms to dismantle all types of vessels."
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director and Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

Even though it is true that the EU-located facilities recycle smaller vessels, this is not due to the fact of their limitations in terms of size and technical capacities, but to the lack of stable inflow of ships to recycle. Considering the marine cargo sector’s record profits, we find their lack of willingness to contribute to the capacity building in the EU unjustifiable. The top 9 shipping companies’ profits rose in the 3rd quarter of 2025 to more than $4.3 billion in operating profit (EBITDA).

So far, only a handful of ship owners, including Hoegh, Hapag Lloyd, CMA-CGM and Petrobras, are taking action to build a better future for ship recycling. The vast majority continue to circumvent international environmental laws with ease, and even lobby for the weakening of standards as illustrated by the ECSA’s submission.

The Commission is furthermore urged to lead by example and enhance capacity in the EU to recycle the many ships that will head for scrap in the coming years. As outlined in the NGO Shipbreaking Platform’s recent report, enhancing domestic capacity for ship recycling provides a strategic opportunity for the EU to secure a steady supply of high quality secondary scrap for the decarbonisation of the steel and construction sectors, and provides coherence with EU environmental policies aimed at preventing the export of hazardous materials from the EU.

It is high time that the EU takes effective steps to at least hold its own shipping sector to account. The best way to do that is to apply its legislation to the real owners of ships and close legal loopholes made available when relying on the flag or location of the ship. Importantly, EU Member States now have to signal whether they will continue to succumb to pressure from ship owners that seek to avoid accountability or support the development of green jobs and circular hubs that will benefit European steel and construction sectors and reward responsible ship owners.