Press Release – The hypocrisy of better beaches: winners of the “Public Eye Investigation Award” shed light on shipbreaking in Alang and Swiss companies’ involvement
Belgian journalist Gie Goris, Editor in Chief of MO* Magazine, and Nicola Mulinaris, Communication and Policy Officer of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, received Public Eye’s first ever “Investigation Award” for their research on the shipbreaking business.
Gie Goris looked for signs of Swiss shipping companies in the Indian town of Alang, where ships go to die. There, he saw many middle-aged wrecks, and met angry trade unionists and workers deprived of their rights and risking their health on a daily basis for a meagre wage. Swiss ship owners, including container giant MSC, use the Alang beach to dispose of their floating toxic waste while boosting their profits. The “recycling” methods of the Geneva-based company MSC, which recently attracted critical headlines for the damage its containers caused in the North Sea, show the vast rift between sustainability promises and the reality of the Swiss shipping industry’s business practices.
Nicola Mulinaris supported Goris in shedding light on the political context behind the illegal trade of toxic waste and showing the important, but ignominious, role played by landlocked Switzerland in dealing with end-of-life ships.
This story, which was published yesterday also by Public Eye, is just an extract of a bigger investigation. The full report "Behind the Hypocrisy of Better Beaches" takes a closer look at industry attempts to greenwash beaching and the lobbying for double standards by embedded policymakers in Europe.

Set up to celebrate Public Eye’s 50th anniversary in 2018, the “Investigation Award” honoured and funded journalistic research into human rights violations, environmental offences or other irresponsible practices of Swiss companies in developing or emerging countries. A jury comprised of renowned media professionals and Public Eye staff selected two projects [1] from a shortlist of 55.
Yesterday, the two investigations were presented to the public in Zurich, during an event held at Kosmos. A panel debate on the relationship between media and NGOs followed the authors’ presentations.

NOTE
[1] “The Blazing Success of Swiss Cigarettes in Africa” is the other project that won the "Public Eye Investigation Award". Lausanne-based reporter Marie Maurisse examined the secret recipes that Swiss tobacco companies use for cigarettes earmarked for export to Africa, in particular to Morocco. In 2017 alone, 2,900 tonnes – or 3,625 cigarettes – were exported to the country. Tests undertaken exclusively for her research revealed a scandalous double standard: cigarettes produced by Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco International (JTI) in Switzerland and sold in Morocco contained markedly higher levels of particles, nicotine and carbon monoxide than those produced for the domestic market. In contrast to the laws in the EU, Swiss legislation allows tobacco companies registered in the country – clearly not by coincidence – to produce and export products that are significantly more harmful and addictive than those sold in Switzerland. According to the WHO, the number of smoking-related deaths in Africa will double by 2030 (with help from Switzerland).

Related news

Platform News – Problems of shipbreaking presented at the 2018 Vicino/Lontano Festival
The NGO Shipbreaking Platform is grateful to have participated in the 2018 Vicino/Lontano Festival, which was held from 10 May to 13 May in Udine, Italy. … Read More

Platform News – UN Special Rapporteur concerned about German shipbreaking practices
In a written submission to the German Government, UN Special Rapporteur Baskut Tuncak has expressed serious concerns related to the substandard shipbreaking practices of German ship owners,… Read More

Platform publishes South Asia Quarterly Update #12
128 ships were sold for scrap to the South Asian beaches in the first quarter of 2017 [1]. Eleven workers were killed and at least four additional… Read More

Platform publishes South Asia Quarterly Update #22
There were a total of 98 ships broken in the second quarter of 2020. Of these, 60 ships were sold to the beaches of South Asia, where shipbreaking kept putting workers’ lives at risk.
... Read More
Press Release – Bangladesh: shipping firms profit from labour abuse
New report reveals network used by shipowners and shipbreaking yards to circumvent international laws prohibiting the dumping of end-of-life ships on South Asian beaches.
... Read More
Press Release – Another Dutch ship owner faces huge fine for having beached a vessel
Dutch ship owner Holland Maas Scheepvaart Beheer II BV has been fined 780.000 EUR and paid a settlement of 2.2 million EUR – totaling to a price… Read More

Press Release – NGOs denounce dangerous working conditions after major explosion at Gadani shipbreaking yard in Pakistan killing at least 21 workers
A major blast caused by several gas cylinder explosions onboard an oil production and storage tanker, beached at Gadani shipbreaking plot number 56, killed at least 21… Read More