Tag: case

Press Release – U.S. Shipping Line Matson backtracks on commitment to not dump their old ships on South Asian Beaches

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

Environmental and Human Rights Groups condemn decision as Mokihana sails out of the U.S. to India

 

The Basel Action Network (BAN) and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform today condemned Matson Shipping Lines for proceeding with the export of its former U.S.-flagged vessel MOKIHANA for scrapping at the notorious shipbreaking beaches of Alang, India. This last voyage is a blatant reversal of Matson’s policy established together with BAN and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform in 2015 (1) to avoid beach-based ship dismantling, and represents a serious affront to the company’s stated ESG commitments.

 

The vessel has now been reflagged to St. Kitts and Nevis, a flag of convenience commonly used for end-of-life ships headed for scrapping, and renamed MOKHIA. According to publicly available vessel tracking data, the ship is listed as en route to Bhavnagar, India, the port serving the Alang shipbreaking yards.

 

As of 2 February 2026 at 14:42 UTC, the vessel was reported to be operating under its own power in the Pacific Ocean, at approximately 23.98° N latitude and 149.61° E longitude, with an estimated arrival in Bhavnagar on 25 February 2026.

"This sequence of actions - reflagging, renaming, and dispatching the vessel to the Alang region - is a regrettable retreat from corporate responsibility and appropriate end-of-life ship management policy. It directly contradicts Matson’s prior public commitments to avoid beach-based shipbreaking and is a violation of the Basel Convention, calling into question the credibility of Matson’s ESG commitments."
Jim Puckett - Founder and Chief of Strategic Direction - BAN

In 2015, Matson publicly committed to ending the use of South Asian tidal beaches for shipbreaking, following international criticism of the environmental and human-health impacts of the practice. The decision to send MOKHIA to Bhavnagar marks a clear policy reversal, returning to the very practices Matson once pledged to abandon.

 

In a letter to BAN and the NGO Platform, Ms. Rachel Lee, the company’s Vice President of Sustainability and Governance, cited exporting to a beaching facility that supposedly adheres to the Hong Kong Convention as a rationalization for the export. However, in India no shipbreaking yards have so far been authorized under the Hong Kong Convention. Moreover, the Hong Kong Convention does not regulate transboundary waste movements, a gap long criticized by environmental and labor organizations, while the Basel Convention explicitly governs such exports and forbids trade between Parties like India and non-Parties like the United States. Under the Basel Convention, end-of-life vessels containing any forms of hazardous materials are considered hazardous waste, and their export is strictly controlled and in this case, prohibited.

"Beaching remains the most dangerous and polluting form of ship disposal in the world. But companies continue to make use of the beaching yards because this practice offers significantly lower costs than safe, contained recycling alternatives, often through the exploitation of desperate and vulnerable labor forces (2). Changing the name of the ship and its flag does not change the environmental reality on the ground, or the lack of corporate responsibility for sending it there.”"
Ingvild Jenssen - Founder and Executive Director - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

BAN and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform emphasize that the dismantling of end-of-life ships on tidal mudflats externalizes toxic risks onto workers and coastal communities, exposing them to hazardous substances such as asbestos, heavy metals and oil residues, and undermines global efforts to promote safe, contained, and truly sustainable ship recycling.

"This is not responsible recycling. It is a retreat from leadership, and a direct contradiction of Matson’s own ESG narrative."
Jim Puckett - Founder and Chief of Strategic Direction - BAN

The organizations are calling on regulators, investors, and customers to scrutinize Matson’s actions closely and to demand that the company immediately recommit to abiding by the Basel Convention, as well as to only utilize off-the-beach, fully contained ship recycling methods, and protecting the human rights of the world’s most vulnerable laborers.

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.

 

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

Press Release – From refurbishment promise to scrapping threat: the Moby Drea controversy

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

The Italian-flagged ferry MOBY DREA, which left Genoa in July after its owner assured Italian authorities it would be refurbished in Croatia and returned to service, is now mired in controversy. Following protests by Croatian civil society organisations, the heavily asbestos-contaminated vessel is again on the market for dismantling.

 

Public outrage in Split has been building for weeks, with the civic initiative “Zdravi Split” leading protests to demand that the ship leaves Croatia, as it was feared the removal of 400 tonnes of asbestos would be conducted locally at the Brodosplit yard, exposing workers and residents to unjustifiable risks. In response, Croatia’s Ministry of Sea, Transport, and Infrastructure ordered the vessel to leave within seven days, but later extended the deadline by fifteen. Now, it is reported that the ship is finally scheduled to depart today.

 

Open letters to the government stress that asbestos removal constitutes ship recycling, which is strictly regulated under EU law (Regulation 1257/2013) and the Basel Convention. The Brodosplit yard is not licensed for conducting scrapping operations, the ship should thus never have been allowed to enter Croatia in the first place.

 

Two official Inventories of Hazardous Materials dated 10 September 2024 and 20 January 2025 further eroded trust; the first having declared the presence of 64.30 tonnes of asbestos onboard, while the second estimating nearly 400 tonnes. This huge discrepancy raises serious concerns about oversight and transparency, and adds to the sense that the MOBY DREA case has been mishandled from the outset.

"The MOBY DREA carries an enormous asbestos load, and it must not end up in a facility that cannot manage it safely."
Benedetta Mantoan - Policy Officer - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

The Platform warns that Turkey, a likely destination for scrapping, cannot be considered a responsible option. Turkish ship recycling yards have repeatedly been criticised for unsafe practices, particularly in the handling and disposal of toxics such as asbestos. Sending a vessel with nearly 400 tonnes of asbestos to such facilities would endanger the health of workers and surrounding communities. 

"The ship owner and Italian authorities, as the flag state, now have a responsibility to ensure the vessel leaves Croatia without delay and is recycled at a certified European facility capable of managing its hazardous materials in full compliance with the law."
Benedetta Mantoan - Policy Officer - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

Press Release – Province shuts down hazardous shipbreaking at Union Bay

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

A victory for residents and environmental protection

 
The NGO Shipbreaking Platform celebrates British Columbia’s decision to cancel the Crown land lease held by Deep Water Recovery Ltd. (DWR) in Union Bay, effectively halting years of unsafe shipbreaking along the Baynes Sound shoreline.

 

The cancellation follows consistent advocacy from local residents, the K’ómoks First Nation, and environmental groups, who raised alarms over DWR’s dismantling of vessels containing asbestos and other hazardous substances without proper permits or oversight.

 

Josie Osborne, MLA for Mid‑Island‑Pacific Rim, underscored the importance of ensuring ship recycling is conducted lawfully and safely. On social media, she added, "I deeply appreciate all the advocacy, letters, and meetings with local residents, organisations and leaders since 2021," and expressed gratitude to provincial ministers and staff for their steady attention to the issue. The province’s statement emphasised that DWR "has not demonstrated the level of regulatory compliance, operational responsibility, or environmental stewardship required" to justify use of Crown land for dismantling vessels, adding that the lease was revoked to protect the public interest.

"This is a hard‑fought and well‑deserved victory. The province’s decision sends a clear message that dangerous shipbreaking practices will not be tolerated."
Nicola Mulinaris - Senior Communication and Policy Advisor - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

The determination of Union Bay residents, support from Indigenous leaders, and the province’s eventual intervention have transformed a local fight into a broader precedent in the global movement for responsible ship recycling. Yet, the work isn’t done. Derelict vessels and industrial debris remain on the shoreline, and cleanup must proceed swiftly under government oversight. The Platform stands with community members in calling for transparent and comprehensive remediation.

 

This case also highlights Canada’s glaring regulatory gap in ship recycling. Without federal legislation, hazardous dismantling might continue unchecked.

Press Release – Rendsburg Court acknowledges environmental harm caused by shipbreaking, but acquits shipowners

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

NGOs welcome Public Prosecutor’s appeal

 

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform welcomes the Public prosecutor’s appeal of the Rendsburg District Court’s decision to acquit the shipowners involved in the illegal export and scrapping of the ship WESTERHAMM. While the ruling marks the first time in Germany that shipowners stand trial for violating environmental law through shipbreaking practices, the Court failed to hold them legally accountable — despite the judge’s own recognition of the environmental damage caused.

 

In her oral statement, Judge Martje Heinsohn made a powerful and unequivocal declaration: “What you did was not right. You caused significant damage to the environment in order to achieve maximum profit. I can only appeal to you to give something back to the environment.”

 

The WESTERHAMM, a 188-meter-long container ship operated by MSC and owned by Rendsburg Schiffahrtskontor, sailed from Bremerhaven on 2 November in 2016, then made stops in Gibraltar and Egypt before being deliberately driven at full speed onto the infamous shipbreaking beach of Alang, India. There, it was dismantled under conditions that are well documented to be highly hazardous for both workers and the environment. The export of end-of-life ships to India is illegal under the EU Waste Shipment Regulation.

 

The Court’s decision to acquit was based on doubts about the timing of the intention to dispose the ship. The shipowners claimed that the decision to scrap the vessel was only taken when the vessel had left German waters and provided as evidence sales documents for scrapping that had been signed when the ship was in international waters. They also sought to argue that because the WESTERHAMM was still operational when it left Germany, the ship could not be considered as waste under international and EU law, disregarding well-established jurisprudence that confirms a vessel can simultaneously be classified as both a ship and waste. Indeed, what triggers the classification as waste is the owner’s intent to dispose the asset, and because a ship is a waste that can move on its own — unlike most other types of waste — it remains also a ship subject to all other maritime regulations on its last voyage to the scrapping yard.  The fact that the WESTERHAMM was still operational does therefore not negate its classification as waste under international and EU law. 

 

The public prosecutors have appealed the acquittal and maintain that internal communications confirming the “unconditional desire to dispose of the ship” as there was no market for its further operational use provide evidence of the intent to dispose of the ship. 

 

In other cases of illegal trafficking of end-of-life vessels, fraudulent information on further operational use or repair was provided to circumvent EU waste laws. In Norway, Altera was held liable for the illegal export of two shuttle tankers to India — also in this case the owners had claimed that the scrapping of the ships was only decided when the ships had left Norwegian waters. In the Harrier case it was shown that the owners had deliberately provided fraudulent information on repair works in Dubai to authorities to avoid the trade ban, while the true destination was scrapping in Pakistan. Also in the North Sea Producer case, it was claimed that the vessel would be further used in Nigeria – instead it sailed straight to Bangladesh for scrapping. 

"The shipping industry is well versed in how to circumvent international waste laws. In our view, the question is which state is the exporting state if it is not Germany? Importantly, the decision to scrap the Westerhamm was taken in an office in Germany – where the vessel actually was at that time should not be the decisive matter — after all ships are intended to move. While we regret last week’s missed opportunity to hold the owners of the Westerhamm accountable for circumventing European waste laws, we are satisfied to see that the public prosecutor’s office has appealed the decision."
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director & Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

Press Release – Stop South Korea’s toxic ship dumping

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

South Korean shipping companies continue to fuel environmental and human rights violations by offloading their end-of-life vessels on the beaches of South Asia for scrapping. Since 2020, 94 South Korean-owned vessels have been dismantled on the shores of Bangladesh and India under dirty and dangerous conditions, putting workers’ lives at risk and causing irreversible environmental damage.
 
In the last two years alone, three serious accidents, leading to deaths and injuries, have been reported on board South Korean vessels sent to South Asia for breaking. Yet, despite repeated calls for accountability, South Korean ship owners—including major players such as Sinokor, SK Shipping and H-Line—persist in selling their end-of-life assets to unscrupulous cash buyers and circumvent international regulations that require safe and environmentally sound disposal.
 
Most recently, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform alerted South Korean authorities to the illegal export of the vessel HL PYEONGTAEK (IMO 9061928), sold to cash buyer Best Oasis by H-Line and beached in Alang, India. H-Line has scrapped five vessels in the last five years and is about to retire the HL RAS LAFFAN (IMO 9176008).
 
In 2024 alone, at least 13 vessels were exported from South Korea to India and Bangladesh for breaking. International law is clear: all transboundary movements of hazardous waste, including end-of-life ships, must obtain Prior Informed Consent (PIC) from importing countries in line with the Basel Convention. Additionally, the export of end-of-life ships from OECD to non-OECD countries is strictly prohibited. Violations of these laws are serious environmental crimes, as evidenced by recent cases in the Netherlands and Norway where shipowners have faced heavy fines and prison for exporting vessels for scrapping in India and Pakistan.

 

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform calls on Sinokor, H-Line, SK Shipping and all other South Korean shipowners to stop scrapping their ships on the shores of South Asia. South Korean authorities must also act to end this toxic trade in breach of their international responsibilities under the Basel Convention, and actively promote a responsible and sustainable domestic ship recycling sector.

 

The South Korean Act on Promotion of Transition to a Circular Economy and Society recognises waste metal as a resource that can support society in transitioning toward a circular economic model. This act aims to facilitate the efficient use of resources throughout the entire lifecycle of products to minimise waste generation and promote sustainable practices. South Korea is a large ship building nation and has an important steel manufacturing sector. National shipping companies and the steel sector should be incentivised to find synergies on how high-quality ship scrap steel can contribute to the decarbonisation of the domestic steel industry, whilst the ship building sector should be encouraged to look at design for optimised material recovery.

"We invite South Korean civil society and media to collaborate with us in raising awareness of this issue and to ensure that ship recycling practices align with the country’s circular economy policies and sustainability commitments."
Benedetta Mantoan - Policy Officer - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

Press Release – Platform publishes list of ships dismantled worldwide in 2024

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform publishes its 2024 annual list of ships dismantled worldwide. The data reveals that 80% of the global tonnage scrapped last year was broken under substandard conditions on the beaches of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.

 

409 ships were dismantled globally in 2024, of which 255 ended up in South Asian yards. Bangladesh remains the shipping industry’s first choice for scrapping, despite grave consequences for workers, local communities and fragile coastal ecosystems. Nine workers lost their lives dismantling ships in South Asia in 2024, with another 45 workers injured due to unsafe working practices.

 

SN Corporation - which operates a yard on the beach of Chattogram, Bangladesh - saw one of last year’s worst accidents. While dismantling an oil tanker, a massive explosion claimed the lives of six workers and left six others with critical injuries. Investigations revealed severe negligence and disregard for safety protocols, as well as inadequate hazardous waste management. SN Corporation, which boasts holding a so-called Statement of Compliance with the Hong Kong Convention from Japanese classification society ClassNK, has lost its environmental clearance in Bangladesh as a result of the investigations.

"That a facility such as SN Corporation – and the more than 100 beaching yards that have similarly obtained Statements of Compliance – supposedly fulfils the requirements of the Hong Kong Convention says much about the low standards set by the IMO. And while the IMO also ignores everything that happens outside the facility gate – including whether or not there is adequate medical emergency response, and capacity to handle all toxic waste streams in a safe and environmentally sound manner – now, even yards that are not licensed to operate nationally maintain their Statement of Compliance. Clearly, the upcoming entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention does not provide the solutions needed to shift the sector towards sustainable ship recycling."
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director and Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

DUMPERS 2024 – Worst practices

 

As in 2023, China tops the 2024 Dumpers List with more than fifty Chinese vessels sold to South Asian shipbreakers, mainly in Bangladesh. This comes despite China’s ban on the import of waste and the country’s own capacity to recycle ships in dry-dock facilities. Indeed, beaching is forbidden in China.

 

More than a dozen vessels were also beached by shipping companies headquartered in Russia, Switzerland, the Philippines, and South Korea. The Platform recently alerted South Korean authorities of the illegal export of the vessel HL PYEONGTAEK (IMO 9061928), sold to cash buyer Best Oasis and now en route to South Asia for scrapping. In 2024 no less than 13 vessels were exported from South Korea to India and Bangladesh. International law is, however, 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 exports of end-of-life ships from OECD to non-OECD countries are banned. An export in breach of the Basel Convention is a serious environmental crime as witnessed by cases brought to European Courts, including now in Germanyand in Norway where Altera Infrastructure was fined for the illegal export of several vessels for scrapping in India.

 

For the second year in a row, Swiss containership giant Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) receives the notorious title of Worst Corporate Dumper, with 16 of its ships beached in India in 2024. Ignoring repeated calls from the Platform to adopt a sustainable recycling policy, MSC is the one single owner responsible for having exported the highest number of toxic end of life ships to South Asia, with more than 100 ships beached since 2009.

 

Other well-known companies — including Norwegian Green Reefers, Philippine Span Asia Carrier and South Korean Sinokor — have contributed to the shipping industry’s toxic footprint, selling their end-of-life vessels for scrapping at some of the world’s most hazardous yards in 2024. Notably, also Lila Global, acting as the ship-owning arm of cash buyer GMS, sent its vessels to the worst yards in Bangladesh and Pakistan — further exposing the hypocrisy behind its sustainability claims and greenwashing services.

 

Last year, 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 companies like Petrobras, SBM, and Shell already enforce no-beaching policies, offshore firms Perenco and BW Offshore respectively sold an FSO and an FPSO to beaching yards in Bangladesh and India. In 2022, the Platform reported a fatal accident at India’s Priya Blue shipbreaking yard during the dismantling of another BW Offshore asset.

 

 

As parts of the shipping industry are keen to see beaching yards rubber-stamped by the weak Hong Kong Convention that will enter into force in June this year, the European Union is still to reveal proposals for strengthening its EU Ship Recycling Regulation. Unannounced inspections by the European Commission of EU approved facilities in Turkiye have uncovered discrepancies between paper plans and actual practice, leading to several yards being removed from the EU list. High levels of pollution in the Aliaga region has now also pushed legal action by Turkish civil society organisations demanding that the sector undergoes a proper Environmental Impact Assessment. Similarly, in Canada, the residents of Union Bay remain engaged in a prolonged struggle against unregulated shipbreaking activities and insufficient regulatory measures.

"The Basel Convention recommended the phasing out of the beaching method 20 years ago and calls for full containment of pollutants and their environmentally sound management all the way to disposal. It also regulates, even bans in some cases, the international trade of hazardous wastes with an eye to protecting vulnerable communities and environments. We strongly encourage enforcement authorities globally to take actions that will effectively hold the shipping sector liable for committing serious environmental crimes, and call on policy makers to safeguard the environmental justice principles that are at the heart of the Basel Convention."
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director and Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

Looking ahead, policies aimed at enhancing circularity, increasing demand for scrap steel, and technological advancements will undoubtedly lead to the development of safer and cleaner ship recycling options. At the Platform’s 2nd Ship Recycling Lab, industry frontrunners showcased that viable and scalable alternatives to beaching already exist.

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

 

 

For the data visualization of 2024 shipbreaking records, click here. *

For the full Excel dataset of all ships dismantled worldwide in 2024, 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.

 

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

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

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

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

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.