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.

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.

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.

In South Asia, workers are exposed to explosions, falling steel plates and toxic fumes and substances that can be found within the ships’ structures. Toxic waste leaks into the ocean and affects marine life, while also making its way into ground water and agricultural fields. The air is polluted far beyond internationally accepted levels, also as a result of the low-cost method used in the region to re-roll contaminated ship scrap steel.

In 2023, 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 South Korean Sinokor and Greek Polys Haji-Ioannou Group. 

DUMPERS 2023 – Worst practices

China tops the list of country dumper in 2023. Despite the existence of state-of-the-art ship recycling facilities at national level, Chinese owners sold 71 vessels for scrapping in South Asia, 59 of which were beached in Bangladesh. While China has banned  the import of waste as part of its efforts to clean its own environment and improve the quality of life of its citizens, the Chinese shipping industry is getting away with dumping its toxic waste on some of the most vulnerable communities and environments in the world. 

Hong Kong, UAE, Thailand, Greece, Russia and South Korea follow as worst dumpers in 2023 with more than a dozen ships beached each.

Swiss containership giant Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) is the 2023 worst corporate dumper. Despite having been repeatedly and strongly criticised for its dumping of more than one hundred ships in the last decade, MSC scrapped no less than 14 of its old container ships in Alang, India, in 2023. The MSC FLORIANA and MSC GIOVANNA respectively left from Spanish and Turkish waters for scrap in clear breach of European and international law that bans the export of hazardous waste from OECD to non-OECD countries. Illegal exports of end-of-life ships is a criminal offence. 

Evergreen, Gearbulk, Green Reefers, Maersk, Sinokor and Zodiac Group Monaco are other well-known companies that sold their toxic assets for scrapping on South Asian beaches in 2023.

Conditions at the ship recycling yards in Aliaga, Turkey, have also come under the spotlight in a new report. Pollution and poor occupational health and safety conditions occur at all stages of the ship recycling process, including the management of waste water and disposal of the hazardous materials originating from ships. Recent audits and unannounced inspections of the facilities by the European Commission furthermore revealed that actual day-to-day practices do not comply with the standard required for EU approval. 

Environmental and labour laws that regulate ship recycling exist, but they are ignored and easily circumvented by ship owners. In a report on the conditions at the shipbreaking yards in Bangladesh, it is revealed how middle men scrap dealers, known as cash buyers, re-name, re-register and re-flag end-of-life ships prior to their last voyage to the beaching yards in an attempt to conceal original ownership. Almost half of the ships beached in 2023 changed their original flag to a grey- or black-listed flag registry just weeks before hitting the beach. The flags of Cameroon, Comoros, Mongolia, Palau, St Kitts & Nevis and Tanzania were particularly popular with cash buyers. At least two of these flag changes enabled Greek companies Danaos Shipping and Ilios Shipping to circumvent the EU Ship Recycling Regulation which requires EU flagged vessels to only be dismantled in EU approved ship recycling facilities. 

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 demand for low-carbon scrap steel provides opportunities to transform the ship recycling sector. EU legislation on ship recycling will be reviewed, providing an opportunity to close existing loopholes and enhance corporate accountability.