Press Release – Bangladesh: ship explosion exposes regulatory failures


Deadly accident in a yard with Hong Kong Convention certification 


 

The explosion on the oil tanker MT Suvarna Swarajya on September 7, 2024, in Bangladesh underscores the lack of adequate international and national regulations, oversight, and labor rights protections in the shipbreaking industry, Human Rights Watch and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform said today. Six workers have died and four remain in critical condition.

 

Shipowners frequently use a network of middlemen and loopholes to circumvent international regulations that prohibit the export of ships to dismantling facilities in Bangladesh that do not have adequate environmental or labor protections. The MT Suvarna Swarajya was previously owned by the Shipping Corporation of India, then sold in March 2023 to Last Voyage DMCC, a subsidiary of Best Oasis, one of the world’s largest cash buyers of ships. Last Voyage DMCC then sold it in May to S.N. Corporation in Bangladesh for dismantling, despite the company’s poor health and safety record, with at least 14 deaths and 22 injuries since 2010 and before the sale.

 

"The tragic explosion at one of SN Corporation’s shipbreaking yards underscores the dangers of an international regulatory system set up to profit the shipping industry rather than protect workers’ rights and safety. The Hong Kong Convention and its so-called certificates of compliance, like the one granted to SN Corporation, create the dangerous illusion that these yards are safe and environmentally sustainable."
Julia Bleckner - Senior Asia Researcher - Human Rights Watch

The explosion occurred in the Unit-2 yard of S.N. Corporation, a few months after Nippon Kaiji Kyokai certified the Unit 2 yard under the requirements of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. While the Convention will enter into force June 26, 2025, many shipbreaking yards are seeking voluntary certification using Hong Kong Convention standards.

 

Human Rights Watch, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, and other rights and environmental organizations have repeatedly raised concerns that the Convention provides for weak environmental and safety standards.

 

Human Rights Watch wrote to S.N. Corporation, Best Oasis, the Shipping Corporation of India, and Nippon Kaiji Kyokai about the September 7 explosion. Nippon Kaiji Kyokai responded on September 15 confirming that the company had conducted their audit based on IMO guidelines. S.N. Corporation, Best Oasis, and the Shipping Corporation of India have not responded. 

 

Countries at the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting on September 30, including Bangladesh, should establish clear consensus that the Hong Kong Convention does not replace the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, which applies to end-of-life ships, and offers a higher level of control, the organizations said.

 

Following the explosion, Bangladesh authorities have indefinitely shut down S.N. Corporation’s yard where the explosion occurred, halted all work on the MT Suvarna Swarajya, and opened an official investigation into the accident. The Department of Environment has suspended the yard’s environmental clearance and ordered SN Corporation to report within three days why the yard should not be permanently shut down.

 

According to data collected by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, among the casualties in yards owned by SN Corporation since 2010, six injuries occurred earlier in 2024 across its three yards. Two of them were on the MT Suvarna Swarajya in May, when a falling pipe broke one worker’s leg and a steel rope injured another worker’s hand. In 2021, one worker in an S.N. Corporation yard died when he fell from a ship during a cutting operation. In 2020, another worker died, also in an S.N. Corporation yard, when he was hit by a falling metal cable.

 

Workers from S.N. Corporation’s yards told Human Rights Watch in July 2022 that the conditions at those yards were dangerous. A 27-year-old cutter said: “I face risk every day that I work in the shipbreaking yard. Nobody wants to work here because they know there is a risk and accidents may occur at every step. The owners do not provide us with any safety measures. They overlook these things.” He said that while the yard’s management provided him with a helmet and gloves, he paid for his own boots, goggles, and protective clothing, despite earning less than US$1.50 per hour, well below Bangladesh’s minimum wage for shipbreaking workers.

 

While the Bangladesh interim government has taken positive steps to address S.N. Corporation’s alleged failure to ensure worker safety, international corporations that enabled the MT Suvarna Swarajya to be dismantled under alleged unsafe conditions should also be held accountable, the groups said. At a minimum, if found responsible, the companies involved, including S.N. Corporation, Best Oasis, and the Shipping Corporation of India, should pay for the medical treatment, long-term rehabilitation, and compensation to those injured, and provide compensation for workers who were killed. In response to questions about measures they are taking to provide compensation, the companies did not respond.

 

Cash buyers like Best Oasis serve as scrap dealers for end-of-life ships. The use of cash buyers has the effect of shielding ships’ original owners and operators from accountability for deaths and injuries taking apart their ships. Given that the three main cash buyers, including Best Oasis, sell ships almost exclusively to yards in South Asia where labor rights abuses and environmental harms have been well-documented, it is reasonable to expect that shipping companies that sell end-of-life ships through cash buyers know that their ship will likely be scrapped under abusive and environmentally damaging conditions.

 

Many cash buyers typically use shell companies or ship registries with lower regulatory burdens as part of their final voyage package, to further obfuscate the beneficial owner of the ship before it is sold to a shipbreaking yard with minimal environmental and safety requirements.

 

Many shipping companies, including some of those based in Europe and North America, use cash buyers to circumvent international and regional regulations that ban dumping their ships in subpar yards to increase their profit.

 

In 2019 the Bangladesh High Court ordered that vessels sailing under flags that have been gray- and black-listed for persistent violations by port state controls, should not be allowed to be imported into Bangladesh. However, more than 100 end-of-life ships were imported under gray- and black-listed flags last year to Bangladesh, in violation of the High Court order.

 

To be imported to Bangladesh for breaking, a ship must be issued a “No Objection Certificate” from the Bangladesh Ship Recycling Board, indicating that there are no hazardous materials onboard. The Department of Environment must also issue an environmental clearance certificate, and the Department of Explosives must issue “gas free for man entry,” and “gas free for hot work” certificates.

 

In a 2023 report, Human Rights Watch viewed 21 leaked hazardous waste certificates for ships entering Bangladesh to be dismantled. The language was consistently pro forma and, in some cases, verbatim, suggesting that the parties drafting the certificates were not conducting adequate inspections of the actual materials onboard the ships. This apparent lack of genuine inspection and oversight exponentially increases the risk of accidents like the explosion on the MT Suvarna Swarajya, the groups said.

 

Bangladesh’s interim government should enforce the 2009 High Court orders that halted the import of ships for recycling until there were “satisfactory provisions for the safety of the workers,” and properly enforce the High Court’s 18-point directive and subsequent orders that require rigorous health and safety standards and labor rights and environmental protections, including the ban on importing ships under gray- and black-listed flags.

 

The Ministry of Industries should immediately shut down any shipbreaking yards employing children, and any yards found to have night operations or are otherwise seriously violating workers’ rights. The Ministry should set a timebound directive to yards to move all ship recycling operations off the beach because dismantling ships on the sand is inherently more dangerous for workers and environmentally damaging. The worksite itself is full of hazards and it is impossible for emergency vehicles to traverse the sandy beach to access the job sites in case of injuries or fire. Shipbreaking yards in Bangladesh should install proper industrial platforms in accordance with the Basel Convention Technical Guidelines on Ship Recycling.

 

In line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, if not already in place, shipping companies should adopt formal and explicit due diligence policies that ensure the company maintains oversight of where ships are recycled and ensures that ships, including those previously owned or operated by the company, are not discarded in yards that use the beaching method. Given the loopholes and the urgent need for stronger regulation of ship recycling, Human Rights Watch and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform believe that adequate voluntary due diligence by shipping companies requires stopping all sales through cash buyers.

"The fire on the MT Suvarna Swarajya is a grave and revolting reminder both of the shipbreaking sector’s failure to comply with national requirements and of the weak standards set by the Hong Kong Convention. It calls for action also at the international level to put a halt to practices that cause irreparable damage, including by taking apart ships laden with toxic substances on tidal mudflats. Beaching can never be safe, nor environmentally sound, and, if allowed to continue, amounts to endorsing the exploitation of vulnerable communities and ecosystems in developing countries."
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director and Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

To read the report, “Trading Lives for Profit: How the Shipping Industry Circumvents Regulations to Scrap Toxic Ships on Bangladesh’s Beaches,” please visit:
https://www.hrw.org/node/385988


For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Bangladesh, please visit:

https://www.hrw.org/asia/bangladesh


For more Human Rights Watch reporting on health and human rights, please visit:
https://www.hrw.org/topic/health

 

 

CONTACT

 

For Human Rights Watch, in New York, Julia Bleckner (English): +1-917-890-4195 (mobile); or blecknj@hrw.org.

 

For NGO Shipbreaking Platform, in Brussels, Ingvild Jenssen (English, French, Norwegian): +32-485-190-920 (mobile); or ingvild@shipbreakingplatform.org.

 

For Human Rights Watch, in London, Meenakshi Ganguly (English, Bengali, Hindi): +91-9820-036-032 (mobile); or gangulm@hrw.org. Twitter: @mg2411

 

Platform publishes South Asia Quarterly Update #38

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. 

 

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

Press Release – Norwegian Altera Infrastructure fined for beaching two ships in India

Trafficking toxic ships is an international environmental crime

 

Following a raid on Altera’s office four years ago, the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Økokrim) issued a fine of NOK 8 million (approx. EUR 700,000) on 10 June to Norwegian shipping company Altera Infrastructure for having sold two vessels for scrapping India.

 

Økokrim is holding Altera Infrastructure, formerly known as Teekay Offshore, liable for the illegal export of the shuttle tankers NAVION BRITANNIA and ALEXITA SPIRIT. Both tankers were sold to cash buyer Wirana and beached in Alang, India, where they were scrapped under conditions that expose fragile ecosystems and workers to harm.

 

Police attorney Maria Bache Dahl stated that “Økokrim takes a serious view on the export of Norwegian operated end-of-life vessels to developing countries with far weaker legislation and enforcement mechanisms than what exists in Norway”. According to European and international law, hazardous waste, including end-of-life ships, cannot be exported from an EU/EFTA country to a non-OECD country under any circumstances.

 

Altera claims that they had intended to retro-fit the shuttle tankers. However, they sold the NAVION BRITANNIA and ALEXITA SPIRIT, as well as two other shuttle tankers, NORDIC SPIRIT and NAVION MARITA, to one of the most notorious cash buyers: Wirana, a scrap dealer specialised in the purchase of end-of-life vessels and known as middle-man for the South Asian beaching yards.

"The shipping industry is well aware that international environmental law, more specifically UNEP’s Basel Convention, restricts the trade of end-of-life vessels to developing countries. But because scrapping a ship on a tidal mudflat in South Asia is more profitable than doing it in a safe and environmentally sound manner in for example a dry-dock, false accounts of further operational use or repair work are provided to authorities in an attempt to avoid the law. To see that Økokrim, as well as other European enforcement agencies, are not dupe and now hold ship owners accountable for illegal waste trade is encouraging."
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director & Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

Altera, which has two weeks to appeal, is not the first company to face this type of charges. In recent years, several ship owners and individuals have been held liable by European Courts for violating international and European waste laws. In 2022, the Norwegian Supreme Court upheld a six month prison sentence for ship owner Georg Eide, after he attempted to illegally export of a vessel for scrapping in Pakistan. Wirana was also the cash buyer in that case and received a fine of NOK 7 million. Dutch ship owners, including  Seatrade and Jumbo, have paid similar fines, while Maran Tankers settled a compensation claim brought by the wife of a deceased Bangladeshi worker after the UK High Court confirmed that Maran Tankers likely did have an obligation to conduct due diligence when selling ships for scrap, and thus could be held liable for injury and death of workers when notoriously unsafe shipbreaking yards were selected. In the summer of 2021, the offices of several Hamburg-based ship owners were raided by the German police, and while investigations are ongoing, the Hamburg Public Prosecutor has pressed charges against three people for ship owner Peter Dohle Schiffahrts’ illegal scrapping of containership CS Discovery in India. In the UK and Iceland, cases involving another notorious cash buyer, GMS, are also still under investigation.

"Whilst enforcement officers are becoming increasingly aware of how the illegal trafficking of waste ships is conducted, it is key that EU policies are reviewed to render the enforcement of hazardous waste trade bans more effective. Existing limitations enabling police only to take action on vessels that either become waste in European waters or sail under an EU flag allow many ship owners to operate in impunity. EU laws should apply to all EU companies. The EU has an obligation to handle its own hazardous waste. The development of capacity to recycle vessels off the beach and closer to home, in line with circular economy objectives, would furthermore satisfy the increasing demand for scrap for the production of carbon accounted steel."
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director & Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

Press Release – Seatrade reaches settlement with Dutch Public Prosecution Service

Dutch ship owner Seatrade has reached a settlement with the Dutch Public Prosecution Service following the illegal export of four ships to India, Bangladesh, and Turkey for scrapping back in 2012. The agreement entails the payment of a total sum of 5,650,000 euros. Preventing further prosecution, fines totalling 2,650,000 euros were imposed on the shipping company and two of its directors, with an additional settlement of 3,000,000 euros.

 

On 15 March 2018, the District Court of Rotterdam found Seatrade and two of its directors guilty of violating the European Waste Shipment Regulation. However, this initial ruling was annulled by the Court of Appeal in The Hague on 30 June 2020, due to procedural irregularities, and a new trial was set to begin.

 

European legislation prohibits the export of toxic end-of-life ships from EU waters to non-OECD countries, and mandates specific procedures for the transboundary movements of hazardous waste within the OECD. Acknowledging their breach of existing rules applicable to ship recycling, the management of Seatrade expressed regret for the actions taken and committed to ensuring future compliance with all relevant laws.

Platform publishes South Asia Quarterly Update #37

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. 

 

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

Press Release – Norwegian ambassador undermines Norwegian law

Bellona and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, along with several stakeholders within Norway's recycling and waste industry, have sent an open letter to the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment. They strongly denounce the statements made by Norway's ambassador to Bangladesh, Espen Rikter-Svendsen, who in several international media outlets has urged Norwegian shipowners to send ships there for scrapping.

"Norwegian authorities must strengthen Norwegian recycling, not shipbreaking yards in Bangladesh known for violations of human rights and pollution."
Sigurd Enge - Senior Shipping Advisor - Bellona

In the letter to Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide and Climate and Environment Minister Anders Bjelland Eriksen, it is emphasised that Norway's ambassador to Bangladesh has encouraged violations of Norwegian and European legislation.

"EU regulations require that end-of-life ships are sent for recycling only to yards approved by EU member states. None of the yards in Bangladesh are approved for recycling ships sailing under European flags or ships sailing in the EU/EEA area. Safe and environmentally friendly ship recycling cannot be conducted in the intertidal zone. Moreover, it is prohibited under Norwegian and international law to export hazardous waste to Bangladesh."
Ingvild Jenssen - Founder and Executive Director - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

For many years, Bellona and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform have worked to end unethical and environmentally harmful ship scrapping on the beaches of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. The senders of the letter, which include both interest organisations and companies, aim to spotlight Norway's capacity for effective waste management and material recovery. To date, eight Norwegian yards are included in the EU list of approved ship recycling facilities.

 

The senders of the letter are:

  • Miljøstiftelsen Bellona
  • NGO Shipbreaking Platform
  • Norsk Industri
  • Avfall Norge
  • Norsk Forening for Farlig Avfall (NFFA)
  • NG Group
  • Stena Recycling
  • Green Yard
  • Fosen Gjenvinning
  • Norscrap
  • AF Offshore Decom

Press Release – Worst corporate dumpers asked to clean up their acts

Targeting sustainability and fleet managers, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform calls for the adoption of responsible ship recycling policies in letters sent to shipping companies standing out for their particularly poor shipbreaking practices, as revealed in the Platform’s Annual Dumpers List. [1]

 

The letters recall the irreversible environmental and human health impacts caused by the scrapping of end-of-life vessels on tidal beaches, and stress the sharp contrast with the strict hazardous waste management regulations enforced in major ship-owning countries. 

 

In an ongoing effort to rouse sector decision-makers from what appears to be a pervasive disregard of environmental regulation compliance, the Platform provides an overview of the international and regional legal frameworks governing ship recycling, including obligations to ensure environmentally sound management under UNEP’s Basel Convention. Highlighting the deficiencies of relying on the so-called Statements of Compliance with the upcoming Hong Kong Convention, the letters also underscore the significance of recently adopted legislation, such as the new UAE Ship Recycling Regulation, which prohibits beaching and landing.

"Constructive dialogue with shipping companies is paramount to incentivise the use of existing facilities that already provide safer and cleaner recovery operations. Collaboration with tech start-ups looking at ways to automate the sector and the scrap-hungry steel industry provides a way for ship owners to align their sustainability strategies with ethical material recovery, and will incentivise the development of capacity and infrastructure to transition ship recycling towards safe and green jobs."
Benedetta Mantoan - Policy Officer - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

In the spirit of transparency, the Platform is also reaching out to the corporate dumpers’ shareholders to raise awareness about the end-of-life practices of their portfolio businesses. [2]

 

 

NOTES

 

[1] List of targeted companies:

A.P. Moller-Maersk (Maersk), COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company), Dae Bok Shipping Co Ltd, Dae Yang Shipping Co Ltd, Daiichi Tanker Co Ltd, Danaos Shipping Co Ltd, Eurobulk Ltd, Evergreen Marine Corp, Golar LNG Ltd, Green Reefers, Hahn & Company, Hartmann AG, JFE Holdings Inc, Korea Line Corporation, Lavinia Corp, Marmaras Navigation Ltd, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), Meratus Line PT, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, NYK Line, Sinokor Merchant Marine Co Ltd, Taiwan Navigation Co. Ltd, Tanto Intim Line PT, Transworld Group.

 

[2] In 2018, the Norwegian Government Pension Fund decided to exclude the shipping company Evergreen from their investment portfolio as Evergreen’s scrapping practices were seen to cause an “unacceptable risk that [Evergreen] contribute to serious environmental damage and gross human rights violations”.

SAVE THE DATE – 2nd Ship Recycling Lab

After the successful organisation of the first edition of the Ship Recycling Lab: Transformation Through Innovation back in 2022, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, still recognising the need for visionary solutions for ship recycling, is ready to host its second edition of the Lab on 9 -10 October 2024 in Lisbon, Portugal.

 

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!

Press Release – Union Bay residents still fighting against hazardous shipbreaking

Three years after initial protests and warnings, the infamous shipbreaking company Deep Water Recovery Ltd (DWR) persists in scrapping vessels at Union Bay, Canada, in blatant violation of international and national rules and standards.

 

Despite multiple violations flagged by local authorities, DWR is dismantling the asbestos-laden NOAAS Miller Freeman and NOAAS Surveyor at Baynes Sound. Local residents, who have strongly and repeatedly opposed these hazardous operations, are now again urging government officials to intervene and protect the health of local communities and the marine environment.

 

In light of the documented environmental contamination and the ongoing disregard for basic safety practices at the workplace, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform fully supports the call for the immediate shutdown of the shipbreaking site in Union Bay and the initiation of a comprehensive site remediation.

 

Recent photo of DWR site

The Toxic Tide – 2023 Shipbreaking Records

THE TOXIC TIDE

The shipping industry continues to exploit workers and the environment for profit

 

According to new data released today by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, 446 ocean-going commercial ships and floating offshore units were sold to the scrap yards in 2024. Of these, 325 of the largest tankers, bulkers, floating platforms, cargo- and passenger ships ended up on the beaches of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, amounting to more than 85% of the gross tonnage dismantled globally.

 

Last year, at least 6 workers lost their lives when breaking apart vessels on the beach of Chattogram, Bangladesh, and another 19 were severely injured. Some of these accidents took place onboard vessels owned by well-known shipping companies, such as Polaris Shipping and Polys Haji-Ioannou Group.

 

 

"We have been witnessing this environmental and human rights scandal for too long. All ship owners are aware of the dire situation at the beaching yards and the lack of capacity to safely handle the many toxic materials onboard vessels. Yet, with the help of scrap dealers, the vast majority choose to scrap their end-of-life fleet in South Asia as that is where they can make the highest profits."
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director and Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

 

Explore our Data Visualisation and read our Press Release.