Press Release – Maersk end-of-life vessels to hit the beaches again. NGOs denounce container ship company’s step back to boost profits
The NGO Shipbreaking Platform and Transport and Environment (T&E) denounce Maersk Group’s decision to beach their end-of-life vessels in India [1]. The world’s leading container ship owner was previously guided by a progressive policy on ship recycling: its old vessels were dismantled in modern ship recycling facilities in either China, Turkey or Europe. Maersk’s decision to resort to the low-cost beaching method in India undermines European efforts to improve global conditions and the company’s position as industry leader.
The Platform had welcomed Maersk’s initial idea to set up a long-term cooperation with stakeholders in India provided that the objective was to set up a modern ship recycling facility in line with the safety and environmental requirements set out by the European Ship Recycling Regulation. However, the hasty decision to sell off end-of-life vessels to Alang shows that the decision is merely driven by profits. In times of low freight rates, Maersk intends to boost its profits by selling to yards that do not comply with European standards.
All yards in Alang dismantle vessels in the intertidal zone. This means that ships are broken in an unprotected marine environment – a method which has been identified at the international level as one that needs to be phased-out and that European law has banned. Environmental concerns remain linked to the abrasion of toxic paints during the beaching process and when cut-off blocks and hulls are winched further up the beach, oil spills and the release of slag and paints chips into the water, and the debris created by the gravity method when blocks crash down on the intertidal zone.
Moreover, working and living conditions in Alang remain inadequate. The lack of decent accommodation will not be solved before the first Maersk vessels arrives in Alang, nor will there be access to a proper hospital specialised in accidents and burn wounds. Maersk seems also to ignore the lacunae of proper downstream waste management in India: asbestos-containing materials can and are re-sold freely and PCBs cannot be properly destroyed. These issues are not dealt with by the Hong Kong Convention - for European Union approval these problems will however need to be addressed.
NOTE
[1] Maersk has stated in Danish press that several of their ships will be sold to the beach of Alang in the coming six months.
Related news
Press Release – Fatal accident at Alang yard during cutting of BW Offshore vessel
A worker died while scrapping FPSO Cidade de Sao Vicente at Indian beaching yard Priya Blue on 21 April.
... Read MorePress Release – Major explosion at Bangladesh shipbreaking yard kills two workers and severely injures five
A fire broke out on board the Malaysian-owned vessel BUNGA KELANA 4, beached at Mahinur Ship Breaking yard.
... Read MorePlatform News – Atlantic Container Line steaming for sunshine
During the summer, the Swedish-flagged ATLANTIC CARTIER and ATLANTIC CONVEYOR, the two last G3 vessels operated by the Italian Grimaldi Group’s subsidiary Atlantic Container Line (ACL),… Read More
Press Release – Fire on board Greek tanker kills two shipbreaking workers in Bangladesh
Md Jamil and Bipul lost their lives while scrapping Polembros’ vessel Greek Warrior.
... Read MorePress 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 More2nd Ship Recycling Lab
2nd Edition of the Ship Recycling Lab to take place in Lisbon on 9-10 October 2024.
... Read MorePress Release – Local residents rally against shipbreaking operation in Union Bay, British Columbia
Local residents marched last Sunday at Union Bay to protest against the dirty and dangerous scrapping operations carried out in the area by Deep Water Recovery Ltd (DWR).
... Read MorePress Release – Brazilian government asked to stop dumping toxic ships on South Asian beaches
The Brazilian CONTTMAF trade union federation and its member SINDMAR [1] have recently criticized the shipbreaking practices of Transpetro, the oil and gas transportation subsidiary of… Read More