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Press Release – NGOs organise event on sustainable maritime transport on 31 May in Lisbon

Posted on May 17, 2023May 17, 2023 by Nicola Mulinaris

On 31 May, between 2PM and 7:30PM, the NGOs ZERO, Sciaena, NGO Shipbreaking Platform and Circular Economy Portugal are organising the conference “Waves of change: towards circular and sustainable shipping" at Casa do Impacto in Lisbon. The international event will focus on the sustainability and circularity of the maritime sector, focusing on the entire ship’s life cycle.

Regulating shipping currently presents the greatest challenges on the path to decarbonisation of the transport sector. Truly sustainable approaches, encompassing circular economy principles, need to be applied to guarantee positive changes, such as a lower demand for raw materials, a global improvement in air quality, the prevention of the spreading of invasive species, and the reduction of noise pollution. Stakeholders representing civil society, industry and public bodies will prompt a constructive debate on these topics, highlighting various holistic solutions for the future of maritime transport.

The event will be held in English and will include three panel discussions on ship design and ship building, ships’ operations and ship recycling, and a networking session. Registration is free, but mandatory through the link available here. Virtual attendance is not possible.

Contacts

Carolina Silva (ZERO) - +351 961077412

Ana Matias (Sciaena) - +351 915684976

Platform publishes South Asia Quarterly Update #33

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Nicola Mulinaris

Press Release – Container shipping asked to clean up its act in view of upcoming scrapping wave 

Posted on March 29, 2023March 29, 2023 by Nicola Mulinaris

Triggered by overcapacity, lower freight rates and the new carbon regulations expected this year, numerous container ships will be sold for scrapping in the near future. In light of this foreseeable surge in the number of discarded box ships, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform has reached out to the largest companies of the sector demanding change in corporate policies and practices by encouraging the pursuit of sustainable solutions.

Several container shipping companies have already been in the spotlight due to the poor management of their end-of-life vessels. NGOs and Danish media revealed the hypocrisy of Maersk when they decided in 2016 to U-turn on their recycling policy and head for the Indian beaches. The profits made by Swiss giant MSC on the back of exploited workers and coastal environments also caused public outcry, and, in 2018, Scandinavian pension funds, including the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, divested from Taiwanese container line Evergreen due to the breach of international human rights and the severe environmental damage caused by the beaching of their vessels.

Ships contain many hazardous substances and materials that may negatively affect people and the environment. Hence, it is crucial that their dismantling is carried out in an environmentally sound and safe manner at a recycling destination that can safeguard workers’ health and protect local communities and ecosystems from pollution. Progressive companies and recycling businesses are looking at the EU Ship Recycling Regulation as the only responsible standard regulating this industry. South Asian beaching yards fail to comply with this standard, and more recently two Turkish facilities were removed from the EU List of approved ship recycling facilities.

With increasing focus on sustainability and due diligence, including pressure from investors and clients, many container lines need to revise their ship recycling practices and policies. Beaching is by far the worst industrial practice, as is the practice of down-cycling and re-rolling contaminated scrap steel. Options that operate with standards on safety, circularity and material recovery in line with international labour and environmental law and ESG expectations already exist. With the projected growth in demand for capacity to recycle large vessels, the NGOs call on the box ship sector to show leadership and support the scaling of truly sustainable ship recycling solutions.

Press Release – Platform publishes list of ships dismantled worldwide in 2022

Posted on February 1, 2023January 31, 2023 by Nicola Mulinaris

According to new data released today by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, 443 ocean-going commercial ships and offshore units were sold for scrapping in 2022. Of these, 292 large tankers, bulkers, floating platforms, cargo- and passenger ships ended up for dirty and dangerous breaking on tidal beaches in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.

Whilst the South Asian shipbreaking yards experienced the lowest turnover in over a decade, with a significant drop in terms of the number of ships scrapped, they remained the preferred destination for end-of-life vessels, dismantling 80% of the global end-of-life gross tonnage. The reasons for the plunge in the number of vessels scrapped in 2022 are multiple, with high ocean freight rates that made it profitable to continue operating older vessels and banks’ shortages in providing credits to companies for the purchase of end-of-life assets identified as the main drivers.

In South Asia, workers – often exploited migrants – are exposed to immense risks. Dangerous working conditions, including fires and falling steel plates, kill or seriously injure numerous workers. Many more are sickened by exposure to toxic fumes and substances that can be found within the ships’ structures. Coastal biomes, and the local communities depending on them, are devastated by toxic spills and air pollution due to the lack of infrastructure to contain, properly manage and dispose of hazardous materials.

In 2022, at least 10 workers lost their lives and 33 workers suffered injuries when breaking apart vessels on the beach of Chattogram, Bangladesh. Local sources also reported three deaths in Alang, India, and three injuries in Gadani, Pakistan. Some of these accidents took place onboard vessels owned by well-known shipping companies, such as Berge Bulk, Sinokor and Winson Oil.

DUMPERS 2022 – Worst practices

The 2022 worst country dumper was China. Chinese owners sold 28 ships for scrapping in South Asia, most of which were beached in Bangladesh. Russia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Greece follow with more than a dozen ships beached each.

Major dry bulk carrier Berge Bulk, which has figured amongst the worst corporate dumpers several years in a row, reached the top in 2022. The company scrapped four carriers in Bangladesh and India, reaching a total of 24 vessels beached in the last ten years. Berge Bulk’s scrapping practices stand in evident contrast with the company’s declared commitment to sustainability and safety. According to local sources, three separate accidents, causing injuries to three workers, occurred during the cutting of the BERGE KANGCHENJUNGA at Ferdous Steel yard in Bangladesh. On 3 March, Amirul broke his leg after a fall. On 27 April, an iron piece suddenly hit Sedan Das on his spine. On 2 August, Motin suffered burn injuries due to a fire. Shipping sources link cash buyer GMS to the sale of the BERGE KANGCHENJUNGA, re-named JENGA prior beaching.

Brazilian state-owned company Petrobras comes second for worst corporate practice. More than five years have passed since civil society organisations and trade unions urged the Brazilian government to stop the dumping of toxic end-of-life ships in the Global South. Yet, oil giant Petrobras sold another four of its old tankers and two of its old floating platforms for dismantling on South Asian beaches last year, reaching a total of 34 vessels beached in the last decade. The units were auctioned off to scrap dealers. According to shipping sources, at least three of the units were sold to cash buyer Best Oasis.

"In order to ensure clean and safe ship recycling off the beach, it is time for Brazil to introduce stricter requirements for the public auctions of end-of-life vessels and offshore units, and to properly enforce international legislation on hazardous waste exports. This continuous toxic dumping perpetrated by Petrobras and the scandal of the former aircraft carrier SÃO PAULO should have already served as a wake-up call."

Nicola Mulinaris - Senior Communication and Policy Advisor - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

BW Offshore is another well-known company that dumped its toxic units on the beach last year. On 21 April, a worker lost his life at the Indian yard Priya Blue Industries, where BW Offshore’s Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) CIDADE DE SÃO VICENTE was being cut. Assisted by Arctic Shipbrokers, Grieg Green and cash buyer Best Oasis, the deal was branded as a green sale.

Back in January 2019, Norwegian pension fund KLP had blacklisted Nordic American Tankers (NAT), a Bermuda-registered company controlled from Norway by Herbjørn Hanson, following the sale of several tankers for dirty and dangerous scrapping at South Asian beaching yards. Yet, NAT seems not to have improved its policy since, with two additional NAT vessels ending up on the beaches of India and Pakistan last year.

Environmental and labour laws that regulate ship recycling exist, but they are ignored and easily circumvented by ship owners, often with the aid of scrap dealers known as cash buyers. These pay the highest price for end-of-life vessels, and typically re-name, re-register and re-flag the vessels on their last voyage to the beaching yards. More than half of the ships sold to South Asia in 2022 changed flag to one of the grey- and black-listed flags of Cameroon, Comoros, Palau, St Kitts & Nevis and Tanzania, often just weeks before hitting the beach. At least eight of these flag changes enabled ship owners to circumvent the EU Ship Recycling Regulation. Seven of these units, including one owned by Italian Finbeta SpA, ended up on a beach instead of being recycled in an EU-approved facility as the Regulation requires.

"Existing laws are way too easy for ship owners to circumvent. The decisions to scrap are taken in offices in Hamburg, Athens, Antwerp, Copenhagen and other shipping hubs. This reality begs for the introduction and enforcement of measures that effectively hold the real beneficial owners of the vessels responsible in their own jurisdictions, regardless of the flags used and ports of departure for scrapping."

Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director and Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

In 2022, a total of 49 ships were dismantled in Aliağa, Turkey, a site where currently six EU-approved ship recycling yards are located. Civil society organisations have raised concerns over the ship recycling operations in the region and massively mobilised over the summer to stop the import of the toxic-laden aircraft carrier SÃO PAULO. They flag serious breaches of national laws related to environmental permits, pollution, occupational health and safety and waste management in the sector. Two facilities, Şimşekler and Işıksan, were removed from the EU List in 2022 due to their failure to comply with the requirements set in the EU Ship Recycling Regulation. Furthermore, recently published audit reports of two other yards reveal several problems.

Looking ahead, the number of ships that will need to be dismantled is expected to surge. At the same time, the growing focus on circularity and the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions provide opportunities to transform the ship recycling sector. Already, forward-looking governments are developing policies to increase access to scrap steel for green steel production, coupling that with measures to encourage the development of sustainable ship recycling capacity. For instance, the United Arab Emirates have adopted a “no-beaching” rule and aim to attract vessels for dismantling in dry docks. The European Union’s Green Deal is, on its side, pushing major steel companies to explore ways of integrating ship recycling in their production line.

"A just transition in the ship recycling sector is possible. Clean and safe solutions are already available, and innovations ranging from robotics to water-jet cutting technologies will not only ensure safer practices but also render sustainable ship recycling more cost-effective. We call upon ship owners, especially the large containership companies that will have many vessels to scrap in 2023, to support the shift away from the beaching yards."

Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director and Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

Read more about the pioneers of green ship recycling in our Breaking Out magazine.

For the data visualization of 2022 shipbreaking records, click here. *

For the full Excel dataset of all ships dismantled worldwide in 2022, 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 #32

Posted on January 19, 2023 by Nicola Mulinaris

Press Release – Polluting shipbreaking practices threaten Ghanian shores

Posted on November 17, 2022November 17, 2022 by Nicola Mulinaris

In light of the recent infrastructure developments taking place at its main ports of Tema and Takoradi, Ghana is aiming to become the main integrated maritime hub of the west African subregion. Yet, certain unregulated practices, such as the demolition of end-of -life vessels, still represent a threat for the ecosystem and the health of the quarter of the country's population that lives along the coast.

Due to the weak enforcement of environmental legislation, low labour costs and occupational safety standards, and the absence of a legal framework covering the recycling of obsolete vessels, dozens of ships have been arbitrarily dumped on Ghanian shores in the last years. Evans Ago Tetteh, PhD Adjunct Lecturer at the Regional Maritime University in Accra, recently reported on the present situation of ship demolition in Ghana, and provided evidence on the environmental harm caused on the beaches of Kpone by the spillage of hazardous substances, such as marine diesel oil. Some of the toxic vessels beached in Ghana have European ties. It is the case of the refrigerated cargo ship NAFTILOS, which was owned by Greek company Fairport Shipping Ltd and which maritime databases still list as laid-up.

Shipbreaking yards are granted licences by the Ghana Maritime Authority and permits by the Ghana Port and Harbours Authority, but neither entity follows through on the process to ensure that the scrapping process is conducted in an environmentally sound manner. To date, the Ghana Shipping Act 2003 (Act 645), the Ghana Maritime Pollution Act (Act 932), the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Act 490) and the Hazardous and Electronic Waste Control Management Act 2016 (Act 917) are the only laws designed to regulate the ship recycling business, without any sector-specific rules.

In recent years, the number of steel companies in Ghana has increased, particularly near the Tema Kpone industrial zone, as well as the country’s thirst for steel scrap. In light of this new demand for raw materials, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform is calling upon the government of Ghana to develop new legislation tailored to regulate ship recycling activities in line with European standards, and to set up a clean and safe industry with adequate downstream waste management facilities. The beaches are not a suitable place for the breaking of toxic vessels.

Platform publishes South Asia Quarterly Update #31

Posted on October 24, 2022 by Nicola Mulinaris

Platform News – Prison sentence for attempted illegal export of the Harrier reveals reckless actions by all parties involved

Posted on October 10, 2022 by Nicola Mulinaris

In March, the Norwegian Court of Appeal convicted ship owner Georg Eide of complicity in an attempt to export the end-of-life vessel HARRIER (a.k.a. EIDE CARRIER and TIDE CARRIER) for scrapping in Pakistan, and fixed the sentence, as the District Court did on the first instance, to six months imprisonment. Eide’s second attempt to appeal was subsequently rejected by the Norwegian Supreme Court in June, therefore confirming the prison sentence.

The judgment, now available in English, clearly states that whether a ship owner sells a ship directly to a scrap yard on the beach in South Asia or uses an intermediary scrap dealer (a.k.a. cash buyer) to conduct the sale will not affect what degree the act merits punishment.

The judgement also provides shocking insights into the role played by all parties involved in the sale and transport of the end-of-life vessel. At all steps along the way, the companies involved were knowledgeable about the intent to scrap the ship. They were also fully aware that it was illegal to scrap the vessel in South Asia, and assisted cash buyer Wirana in setting up a fraudulent tale of repair works in Dubai.

In 2015, after having been laid up for almost ten years, it was clear that the EIDE CARRIER did not have a bright future as an operational ship. Eide Group, the owner, was facing financial difficulties, and their bank, Nordea, incited Eide to sell unprofitable assets. Eide shared possible options with the bank, including the sale of the ship for scrapping.

Shipbroking company Fearnley was hired to find a solution and introduced Eide to scrap dealer Wirana. Shortly after, in the summer of 2015, the vessel was sold to the scrap dealer for USD 5 mill. An e-mail from Wirana to Fearnley in June 2015 stated: “… Also, in view of the green activists etc., vessel NEVER to be declared as going for scrap from its current place.” Both Wirana and Fearnley were thus aware that the export from Norway to South Asia for scrapping was illegal.

At the same time, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform received an anonymous alert and contacted Eide to inform them that any attempt to send the vessel from Norway to South Asia would be a criminal act under European and Norwegian waste laws.

The vessel stayed in Norway. However, in February 2017, the EIDE CARRIER became TIDE CARRIER, changed its flag to that of Comoros and was boarded by a crew from Nabeel Ship Management with the aim of sailing to Pakistan for breaking. A false pretext that the vessel was heading for Dubai for repair and re-employment was provided to authorities.

The TIDE CARRIER never reached Pakistan as it faced engine problems shortly after having left the Norwegian west coast. Local authorities arrested the vessel upon finding onboard a “last voyage insurance for breaking in Pakistan” issued by insurer Skuld. The vessel changed its name (again) to HARRIER and its flag to Palau.

Maritime Warranty Surveyor (MWS) Aqualis Offshore had issued two certificates to the vessel, one for Gadani, Pakistan, and one for refurbishment in Dubai. In an e-mail shared by the Court of Appeal, Aqualis stated: “A second COA [certificate of approval] will also need to be issued to Dubai (for refurbishment) and left on the vessel for Suez Canal purposes (if they hear of a scrap ship then they become difficult)”.

In July 2019, the prosecutors issued Wirana a NOK 7 million fine for having falsified papers to deceive Norwegian authorities about the ship's true destination and seaworthiness to allow the vessel to leave Norway. The cash buyer agreed to pay the fine, but without acknowledging wrongdoing. Also marine warranty surveyor Aqualis Offshore and insurance company Skuld Maritime Agency have been under investigation. The public prosecutors’ office recently dismissed the charge and withdrew the penalty charge notice issued to Aqualis Offshore for undisclosed reasons.

Several other cases of illegal exports involving the use of cash buyers are being investigated in Germany, the Netherlands and UK.

Platform publishes South Asia Quarterly Update #30

Posted on August 30, 2022October 24, 2022 by Nicola Mulinaris

Press Release – Surge of accidents at yards owned by Kabir Group in Bangladesh

Posted on June 2, 2022June 2, 2022 by Nicola Mulinaris

Since the beginning of 2022, out of the eighteen accidents that shook the Bangladeshi shipbreaking industry, six have taken place at yards owned by Kabir Steel Re-Rolling Mills (KSRM), a concern of large conglomerate Kabir Group.

In the last week of January, Mohammad Bakul Pramanik was fatally hit by an iron girder. In February, while scrapping the vessels PIONEER (IMO 9048110) and MED (IMO 9002207), owned by South Korean Polaris Shipping and Singaporean Hin Leong Trading respectively, Ariful Islam Sujan lost his life, whilst Mujidul Haque, Shalim and Md Rofiqul got severely injured. On May 25, Shahjahan, who was working as a cutter foreman on the Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) vessel LADINDA (IMO 7361269), owned by Indonesian shipping company EMP Malacca Strait SA, suffered a spine injury due to the fall of a big iron plate.

This series of accidents follows years of tragic deaths and injuries at Kabir’s yards. In 2020, three accidents took the lives of three workers and impaired another three. In 2021, out of five incidents at KSRM yards, one was fatal. Despite the repeated interventions of the Bangladesh Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments and the Ministry of Industries, which included a ban on operations and imports at one of the KSRM yards for four months, Kabir’s management continues to put the lives of workers at risk.

"All corporations have an obligation to conduct human rights due diligence throughout their supply chain. KRSM’s repeated failure to protect its workers from the many risks involved in ship recycling has resulted in the death of six people and the impairment of at least another seven since 2020. It should be of utmost concern to any financial institution claiming to take Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues seriously to be associated with such appalling practices."

Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

In what seems to be a new worrying trend, several accidents are occurring on board offshore structures, such as Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) and Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSOs) units. These vessels present additional risks for shipbreaking workers, mainly due to their complex design and the presence of highly toxic contaminants, including Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) and mercury. [1]

Since 2021, there have been ten accidents on offshore units beached in Bangladesh. One example is this year's above mentioned injury of Shahjahan on board the FSO LADINDA. Another one is the fatal accident that took place at Hm Ship Breaking Industry on the FSO G STAR (IMO 9118393), owned by the Thai company Nathalin.

"Vulnerable human beings are paying the price with their lives, whilst big corporations fill their pockets with money. Whilst weak regulations and poor law enforcement allow ship owners to choose the easiest and dirtiest way to dispose of their toxic waste on the beaches of South Asia, clean and safe solutions are already available at facilities that use slip ways, dry docks or floating docks. Companies like Shell and SBM Offshore, which have adopted an 'off the beach policy', show that doing the right thing is possible."