Tag: accident

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.

Platform publishes South Asia Quarterly Update #43

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 focuses on Pakistan’s shipbreaking sector, exposing the severe human and environmental costs of beaching practices and outlining emerging solutions on the horizon.

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

Press Release – Marinakis’ tanker beached in Bangladesh amid Greek government indifference

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

Reports United's investigation exposes systemic law evasion and industry complicity

 

A recent Reporters United’s investigation into the illegal end-of-life sale of TRADER III — a tanker linked to companies of Greek shipowner and media magnate Vangelis Marinakis — lays bare how Europe’s most powerful shipping interests still funnel toxic end-of-life ships to Bangladesh’s tidal beaches. It also records, in the words of a senior Greek official, a policy of deliberate indifference that lets these illegal exports sail on.

 

The facts are stark. On 29 January 2025 the TRADER III called port at Nemrut, Turkey. The next day it tracked toward Chios, cut south across Greek territorial waters, drifted off Egypt until 14 February, then headed east towards the shipbreaking beach of Chattogram, Bangladesh. On 15 March the tanker was beached at KR Ship Recycling Industries’ King Steel yard. By then, the deal chain had done what it was designed to do: deliver illegally a high-value hull to a non-OECD beach, far from EU oversight, for workers to cut it by hand amid hazardous substances onboard.

At the centre of the deal stands Global Marketing Systems (GMS), the world’s largest cash buyer of scrap ships — and a company long accused of enabling the world's toxic shipbreaking trade. The journalists document that Marinakis-linked interests sold the vessel directly to GMS. Scrap dealers, such as GMS, arbitrage lax standards and higher per-tonne prices paid by South Asian beaching yards. 

 

The report also showcases how ship owners and GMS get away with trafficking ships to South Asian beaches. In June 2025, GMS hosted a webinar featuring Petros Varelidis, Greece’s Secretary-General for Natural Environment. There, Varelidis spelled out — without ambiguity — a policy of wilful non-enforcement when it comes to regulating exports of end-of-life ships like TRADER III from Greek waters. He also went further, dismissing EU officials responsible for monitoring ship recycling as “low-level bureaucrats”.

 

Inaction by Greek authorities causes harm. Chattogram's yards remain among the world’s deadliest work places. King Steel yard itself recorded an accident in August while the TRADER III was beached there. Europe’s legal framework is unambiguous: exports of end-of-life ships from the EU to non-OECD are banned, and the EU Ship Recycling Regulation channels EU-flag ships to approved yards — a list that does not include beaching yards in Bangladesh. Owners dodge this with flags of convenience and cash-buyer transfers, but courts across Europe have begun to pierce the veil of such deals, recognising owners’ duty of care to ensure sustainable ship recycling. 

 

Greece and Turkey are the main European chokepoints — the last predictable places to stop on the way to a beaching yard. Yet, as Reporters United’s file shows, Greece “pretends”, and Turkey looks away, even when NGOs provide concrete case alerts. “Greek and Turkish authorities have a very bad track record of turning a blind eye,” our policy team told the reporters, reflecting years of unanswered warnings about illegal exports staged from their waters.

"What happens next will show whether the law matters when powerful owners are involved. We call on Greek prosecutors to open an immediate probe into the Trader III’s export, to obtain contracts, emails and an end-of-life sale timeline, as well as investigate compliance by responsible Greek authorities. The seller’s intent and the ship’s foreseeably illegal destination were evident before the vessel left Greek waters. EU institutions should furthermore sanction Greece’s evident failure to comply with the Waste Shipment Regulation"
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

Platform publishes South Asia Quarterly Update #42

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 focuses specifically on the Hong Kong Convention and the implications of its recent entry into force.

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

Press Release: Need for reform of ship recycling sector in Turkey has never been more apparent after massive fire and waste dumping scandal revealed

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

In recent months, Turkey’s ship recycling sector has experienced significant movements. From controversies surrounding the sale of shipbreaking yards to the arrival of a UK Navy vessel, and now the fire aboard the decommissioned FSO Sloug, public concern has been mounting over safety, transparency, and environmental standards in Aliağa. 

 

Moreover, on 16 June 2024, a coalition of civil society organisations filed a criminal complaint against public authorities and ship recycling companies, which exposed years of environmental monitoring and health data, drawing from recent EU inspection reports and official Turkish documents. It alleges widespread regulatory failure and systemic misconduct across the shipbreaking sector in Aliağa, including crimes of deliberate environmental pollution, document falsification, and misconduct.

Fire on the SLOUG

 

On July 3rd, a fire erupted on the decommissioned FSO SLOUG, which had been left idle at the Simsekler yard in Aliağa for over two years with approximately 6,000 tons of petroleum still in its tanks. The ignition was triggered during cutting operations by the presence of residual petroleum—an entirely preventable accident had the vessel been properly cleaned and certified gas-free, following both Turkish and international law. 

"When we visited the ship recycling region, everywhere was invisible in black smoke. Workers were still working in the area. The fire was the predictable result of regulatory failure, and insufficient oversight."
Sonay Tezcan - Workers' Platform of the Aegean

Another Military Vessel in Aliağa

 

The Chambers of Chemical and Environmental Engineers have raised alarms over safety and environmental risks in Aliağa as another toxic warship arrives in Turkey to be dismantled at the yard Leyal. The HMS Bristol, a 1967 British Navy destroyer, carries hundreds of asbestos parts, lead-based paint, organotin antifouling coatings, CFC gases, and PCB-containing equipment. Its Inventory of Hazardous Materials lists over 400 asbestos items, 283 kg of lead paint, and 263.5 kg of toxic tributyltin (TBT), a banned compound harmful to marine life.

 

A recent BBC report revealed that two workers at Leyal — which dismantles most of the UK Navy’s decommissioned vessels — were diagnosed with occupational diseases, heightening concerns about toxic exposure and the lack of adequate worker protections.

 

"The arrival of HMS Bristol in Aliağa reflects a broader systemic failure. No ship should be dismantled here without strict oversight and protective measures. We are deeply concerned about the safe handling of hazardous materials on board. In line with both national laws and international obligations, particularly the Basel Convention, HMS Bristol should never have been brought to Turkey. It must be returned immediately. The UK Navy must adopt a transparent, sustainable ship recycling policy that protects the environment, public health, and workers’ rights."
Selma Akdoğan – Chamber of Environmental Engineers in Izmir

Criminal Complaint Demands Scrutiny in Aliağa

 

Amid growing public concern, a formal criminal complaint was submitted on 16 June 2025 by EGEÇEP (Aegean Environmental and Cultural Platform Association), İzmir Medical Chamber, DGD-SEN (Union of Dock, Shipyard, and Shipbreaking Workers), İzmir Chamber of Chemical Engineers, and İzmir Living Spaces Initiative. It documents years of violations in Aliağa’s shipbreaking zone, citing EU inspections and Turkish government reports.

 

It alleges environmental crimes including deliberate pollution, falsification of official documents, and abuse of public office. Key failures include lack of environmental reviews, unsafe dismantling, poor waste management, false reporting, and ongoing neglect of worker safety and public health. These recurring violations have caused what the complainants call “slow violence” against communities and nature. 

 

"Through its operations, the Ship Recycling facility has deliberately caused environmental pollution and continues to operate without fulfilling the legally required occupational health and safety conditions. In this context, a thorough investigation and prosecution must be carried out to address and remedy these systematic violations."
Hülya Yıldırım – Attorney in Environmental Law

Sale of the Aliağa Ship Recycling Zone

 

Last month, the disputed ownership of Aliağa Ship Recycling Zone reached a critical point. The 20-year rental agreement with TOKİ (Housing Development Administration of Turkey), expiring mid-2026, is sparking debate among public, political, and industry sectors. Ongoing disagreements and failed sales attempts have stalled decisions on the land’s future. On 28 February 2025, it was revealed that Aliağa Municipality acquired the property from a TOKİ-linked subsidiary.

 

The land was sold for 10.06 billion TL (€ 221.3 million) excluding VAT, with claims surfacing that it will later be resold to ship recycling companies with a 32% profit margin. It was stated that 80% of the acquisition process has been finalised, with full completion expected during summer 2025.

 

Mayor Serkan Acar clarified that APAŞ, the municipality’s petroleum subsidiary, is a private company, so municipal council votes are irrelevant to the land acquisition. He reiterated the municipality’s aim to regulate the area, suggesting a future where the zone evolves from dismantling to include maintenance and large-scale repair operations. According to the Mayor, “the most important issue—property ownership—has now been resolved. A sale is not currently on the table. Those who have long operated in this area will be prioritised in any future decisions.”

 

However, the acquisition sparked debate over its opaque process, funding, future land use, and why the land was sold to APAŞ instead of the municipality directly. Critics raised concerns about transparency and lack of public or parliamentary disclosure. Mayor Acar justified the acquisition by stating that when an open tender was previously considered, the facilities had expressed fear of land loss. He shared that the companies themselves requested the Municipality’s intervention to resolve the issue. 

 

Separately, inspections found 15,000 tons of hazardous waste improperly stored or buried in the zone. The municipality vowed strict sanctions, due to health and environmental risks. Mayor Acar acknowledged the findings and that it seemed some of the waste had been intentionally buried. Meanwhile, a group of ship recyclers protested fines, foreclosures, and demolition orders from the Municipality, demanding immediate ownership titles and criticizing APAŞ and Aliağa Municipality for arbitrary treatment. However, reports now suggest the disputes are being resolved, with an agreement reached for transferring the land to the yards.

 

Yet, despite now owning the land, the Municipality does not have more rights on environmental oversight, and environmental degradation in Aliağa lies in the absence of effective implementations of the regulation and oversight by the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Transport authorities. The waste dumping could have been detected much earlier had there been proper environmental monitoring. Indeed, problems in Aliağa stem not from infrastructural shortcomings alone, but from inadequate environmental governance, including proper monitoring, regulation, and accountability, regardless of property transfer.

 

"Aliağa Municipality must ensure full transparency in the land sale process and collaborate closely with the Ministry of Environment to develop a comprehensive, long-term plan that supports the sustainable development of the region."
Hakan Barçın - Foça Environmental Platform (FOÇEP)

Upgrading Ship Recycling Practices in Aliağa

 

The recent fire aboard the Sloug tanker has brought renewed attention to the urgent need for strengthening oversight and regulatory standards in Turkey’s ship recycling sector. In this context, the planned dismantling of HMS Bristol, a former UK Navy vessel containing significant amounts of asbestos, PCBs, and other hazardous substances, raises serious concerns.

 

Given the recurring challenges documented in Aliağa—including criminal complaints —the import and dismantling of such high-risk vessels must be approached with utmost caution and responsibility. In accordance with the Basel Convention and principles of environmental justice, the UK should be urged to reassess the transfer of HMS Bristol and ensure it is handled in a facility with verified capacity to manage its hazardous contents safely and transparently.

 

As highlighted in our report on the shipbreaking sector in Aliaga, what is urgently needed is a comprehensive framework for ship recycling that includes robust permitting, effective monitoring, and strict enforcement mechanisms. At the same time, the sector must begin a structured transition away from the landing method toward safer and more sustainable dry-dock practices.

 

"We invite the Aliağa Municipality, along with the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, to work together in developing a clear, transparent, and enforceable roadmap for the future of Aliağa. Environmental protection, worker safety, and alignment with international standards are necessary to ensure a just and sustainable transformation of the ship recycling industry in Turkey."
Ekin Sakin, Policy Officer at the NGO Shipbreaking Platform.

Platform News– Legal action taken by family of deceased worker following fatal incident at IŞIKSAN ship recycling yard in Turkiye

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

On 31 August last year, a fatal accident occurred during the dismantling of the Norwegian floating oil platform BIDEFORD DOLPHIN  at the IŞIKSAN ship recycling yard in Aliağa, İzmir.

 

Ten workers onboard the offshore unit were exposed to toxic gas. Tragically, İbrahim Karakaya—who was at the site to purchase materials and furniture before dismantling began—lost his life.

 

According to the expert report submitted to the prosecution file, the accident was entirely preventable. The cause was traced to interference with a solenoid valve, which resulted in oxygen deprivation within a confined space.

 

The report further revealed failure by the ship recycling yard to implement fundamental occupational safety procedures: no gas-free protocol was carried out, confined spaces were not adequately inspected, hazardous areas were not sealed off, and there were no emergency response or rescue measures in place.

"Work in confined spaces and the management of gas measurements are based on well-established standards that have been in place for nearly half a century. This accident could and should have been avoided."
Prof. Dr. Alp Ergör - İzmir Medical Chamber

Despite having identified serious breaches of safety standards and clear negligence by IŞIKSAN, no penalties on the yard have so far been imposed.

"The accident occurred due to a lack of occupational safety measures and ineffective emergency management. No assessment was made, and no one took responsibility. Ensuring safety and justice calls for continued effort and commitment."
Sonay Tezcan - Workers' Platform of the Aegean

While there is an ongoing criminal investigation, Ibrahim Karakaya’s wife and two children have been left without adequate support.  The emotional, financial, and logistical distress of Ibrahim’s death has deeply affected every aspect of their lives.  İbrahim’s widow, who now tragically is under treatment for cancer, is the sole caretaker of two young children, and has recently filed a separate compensation case to seek justice, accountability, and the fair reparations her family deserves from IŞIKSAN.

 

Press Release – Another worker dies at Alang shipbreaking yard

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

A wake-up call as Hong Kong Convention’s entry-into-force will rubberstamp dangerous practices

 

Just weeks before the Hong Kong Convention (HKC) for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships is set to enter into force on 26 June, another shipbreaking worker died in Alang—the world’s largest ship dismantling site—at a facility that claims to already be compliant with the Convention’s standards [1].

 

On 20 May, 20-year-old Satur Bhai, from Bhara Para village in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar District, fell to his death while dismantling the vessel REM (IMO 9157739) at Plot No. 50. Without a safety harness, he was tasked with removing furniture from the ship’s seventh level. He was employed as a begari (helper)—a position typically untrained, underpaid, and unprotected.

 

The REM, formerly sailing under the South Korean flag as SK SUPREME, was reflagged to St. Kitts and Nevis before being dumped in Alang. This deliberate flag-switching is a textbook case of regulatory evasion, allowing the vessel’s beneficial owner—South Korea’s SK Shipping Co. Ltd—to sidestep international safety and environmental norms, and to obtain the highest profit for the end-of-life asset.

 

Despite growing scrutiny, dangerous and abusive practices remain the norm in Alang where ships are scrapped on tidal mudflats. And while the HKC aims to regulate the industry, its weak provisions threaten to legitimise these very conditions. 

 

Satur Bhai’s death is not isolated. In these last five years at least 10 workers have lost their lives taking apart the global fleet in Alang under conditions that would never be allowed in major ship owning countries, including South Korea. With 90 percent of the global fleet still being scrapped on three beaches in South Asia, the shipbreaking sector is marked by systemic neglect, opaque ownership structures, and a race to the bottom in environmental and labour protections.

 

This latest fatality follows renewed calls on South Korea to end the dumping of end-of-life vessels on South Asian shores. The export of hazardous waste—including ships laden with toxic paints, asbestos, and residue oils—to countries without proper containment and disposal infrastructure contravenes the Basel Convention on the Control of the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal, to which South Korea is a party.

"This tragedy puts a spotlight on the failure of both national governments and international regulators to protect workers and the environment. If global shipping powers like South Korea are serious about sustainability and accountability, they must invest in domestic recycling capacity and end exploitative shipbreaking practices abroad. International policy makers need to furthermore ensure effective enforcement of the Basel Convention which currently provides the highest level of protection for both the environment and workers."
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director & Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

NOTE

 

[1] In the last years, there has been a proliferation of the so-called Statements of Compliance with the Hong Kong Convention, inspections conducted at yards on a business-to-business basis as yet another attempt by the industry to greenwash its dirty and dangerous practices. Facilities that lack infrastructure to contain pollution; lack protective equipment to prevent toxic exposure; have no hospitals to handle emergencies in the vicinity; and where systemic breaches of labour rights have been documented have been able to obtain these Statements.

 

 

Platform publishes South Asia Quarterly Update #41

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 focuses specifically on our South Asian members and their impactful activities.

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