Oil spill at Priya Blue shipbreaking yard. Alang, Gujarat, India.

Footage obtained by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform shows workers sent to clean up the oil spill without protective clothing, equipment, and standing barefoot in oil. Satellite imagery from 14 June shows the oil having spread far beyond Priya Blue’s plot, clearly indicating that it was impossible to contain the spill within the yard area due to the tidal flows that characterize the beaching method.

Locations of the oil spill sightings. Gujarat, India.

Local media reports on the environmental disaster and testimonies from affected communities also point to major discrepancies in Priya Blue’s account. The company’s report – which only includes pictures from several days after the incident and no pictures of the impact on the SOHAR – appears to downplay the scale and spread of pollution, while independent documentation shows contamination far beyond the immediate area of the yard. Oil was reported washing ashore along a large stretch of the coastline, including fishing village Mithi Virdi, around 10 kilometres from Priya Blue, directly contradicting any suggestion that the spill remained contained close to the facility.  

Heavy oil washing ashore. Mithi Virdi, Gujarat, India.

Two days after the incident, Gujarati TV channel TV9 reported from the site, and according to their sources, more than 30 hours after the massive oil spill, responsible authorities, including the Gujarat Maritime Board and Gujarat Pollution Control Board, appeared not to have taken any action. While public outrage grew after videos of heavy fuel oil washing ashore began circulating on social media, little information about the origins of the spill was available, showcasing a serious lack of transparency, enforcement, and accountability in the Alang-Sosiya shipbreaking region. According to a Gujarati-language newspaper, Gujarat Samachar, the Gujarat Pollution Control Board collected liquid and sediment samples along a 200–300 meter stretch of coastline only three days after the spill. 

Priya Blue is not a marginal operator in Alang-Sosiya, and is linked to cash buyer Best Oasis. Widely promoted as one of India’s most advanced shipbreaking yards, Priya Blue has operated for 40 years and its yard at plot V1/V2 is one of the first to have obtained a certificate from Indian authorities as being compliant with the IMO’s Hong Kong Convention. Priya Blue has also sought inclusion on the European List of approved ship recycling facilities under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation — a framework intended to reflect high standards on worker safety, environmental protection, and downstream waste management. Vocal at international maritime conferences and highlighted by shipping stakeholders as evidence that beaching yards can meet global standards, Priya Blue was recently presented in the Sustainable Shipping Initiative’s Alang in Transition: From Compliance to Capability report as a showcase for improvements in Indian shipbreaking. The incident, and subsequent management of the oil spill by Priya Blue, now casts serious doubt on those claims.

Many issues surrounding the oil spill remain unclear, including why the LNG SOHAR was carrying 1.800 tonnes of fuel. The NGO Shipbreaking Platform has sent several questions to Priya Blue of which it so far has not received a response. [3] The LNG SOHAR was sold for scrapping in Alang by Japanese MOL and Oman’s Asyad Shipping who jointly owned the vessel. Vessels owned by Japanese NYK (LNG JAMAL – IMO 9200316) and offshore drilling contractor Transocean (DISCOVER LUANDA – IMO 9456068) were also present at Priya Blue when the incident occurred. 

Having informed global policy makers about the oil spill on 23 June at a UNEP Basel Convention meeting, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform calls for a ban on the beaching method, also under the IMO’s Hong Kong Convention which currently is under review. Ship recycling must take place in facilities capable of controlling spills, protecting workers, and preventing toxic releases from reaching coastal communities and the sea. When vessels are dismantled on tidal flats, no infrastructure can contain spills of toxic substances.  

In light of the above, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform calls on:  

- The Gujarat Maritime Board and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board to conduct a fully transparent investigation, publish all sampling results, and disclose the volume of oil released and the full extent of contamination;

- The European Commission to take this serious incident into account in its assessment of beaching yards that have applied for inclusion on the European List, and clearly recognize that the beaching method does not guarantee the requirements for containment under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation;

- Shipowners, including MOL, NYK and Transocean,to immediately cease sending vessels to beaching yards and instead use only facilities that provide impermeable surfaces and engineered containment provided by industrial platforms, including adequate drainage;

- The International Maritime Organization to recognize the inherent risks and structural flaws of beaching and ban the beaching method under the Hong Kong Convention.