Tag: corporate

Press Release – The Hong Kong Convention provides no roadmap for sustainable ship recycling

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

NGOs call upon the shipping sector to take responsibility and scale best practice

 

Today, the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC) officially enters into force. While the shipping industry and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) have framed this as a landmark for safer and greener ship recycling, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform warns that the Convention fails to address the environmental injustice and human rights violations that continue to stain the industry. 

"The HKC does not set a roadmap for sustainable ship recycling, but will instead serve the interests of shipping companies that want to avoid paying the true cost of safe and environmentally sound end-of-life management. Tragically, it also risks to undercut efforts to level the playing field for responsible ship recyclers to compete."
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director & Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

The HKC does not prevent the most dangerous and polluting form of shipbreaking: the dismantling of end-of-life vessels on tidal mudflats, as practiced in countries like Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. This method, known as beaching, exposes workers to life-threatening risks and does not prevent hazardous materials - such as oil sludge and heavy metal laden paints - from contaminating fragile coastal ecosystems. By failing to prohibit beaching, the HKC rubberstamps a practice that has long been banned in all major ship owning countries [1] and which is excluded as an option for end-of-life management by responsible shipping companies [2]. 

 

The UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights and civil society groups globally already called out the HKC for its weak environmental standards and its silence on worker protection when the Convention was adopted in 2009. Since then, more than 100 beaching yards in India and Bangladesh have claimed that they operate in compliance with the HKC and received so-called Statements of Compliance with HKC from well-known classification societies. It says much about the low standard set by the IMO that facilities operating on a beach without infrastructure to contain pollutants, with no hospitals in the close vicinity, no capacity to safely dispose of hazardous materials and no track record of monitoring the health of their workers, supposedly fulfil the requirements of the HKC. Poor safety standards at these yards have caused numerous deaths and injuries - last year an explosion killed seven workers at a facility in Bangladesh that had obtained a so-called Statement of Compliance with HKC from Japanese classification society ClassNK.

 

The HKC’s reliance on defective flag-state control [3], its failure to impose binding labour and environmental protections, and its lack of downstream waste accountability means that ship owners can continue to operate with impunity, outsourcing the risks of dismantling to some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. 

 

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform strongly denounces industry pressure to position the HKC as a substitute for existing, more robust legal instruments—most notably the Basel Convention, which restricts the global trade of hazardous waste and bans the dumping of toxic waste on developing countries. [4] While legal experts have outlined why the Basel Convention cannot be replaced by the HKC [5], governments must now support ways to ensure better enforcement of existing international environmental and labour laws and amend the HKC to bring it in line with these laws. Any move to side-line the Basel Convention in favour of the current weaker HKC framework would be a serious setback for global environmental governance and a betrayal of the communities who have borne the cost of this industry's failures for decades. 

"he shipping industry cannot settle with a Convention designed to accommodate industry worst practice. Beaching should be phased out, not endorsed."
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director & Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

NOTES 

 

[1] Beaching is banned in China, the EU, North America and the UAE recently adopted a new Regulation which also bans landing and will enter into force on 26 June.

 

[2] Last year the IOGP adopted new guidelines for recycling which exclude beaching as safe and environmentally sound. Companies such as Hapag-Lloyd and Walenius-Wilhelmsen have long had policies for not using beaching facilities. Petrobras is developing capacity to recycle its assets in dry-docks in Brazil, and very recently autoliner Hoegh announced an exciting new collaboration with AF Decom and Nordic Circles to up-cycle eight of their ships in Norway.

 

[3] The flags of St Kitts and Nevis, Comoros, Tuvalu and Mongolia are particularly popular for end-of-life vessels that end up in South Asia. Middle men scrap dealers known as cash buyers change the registry of the vessels to these flags just weeks before they hit the beach. These flag registries are black and grey listed by port authorities globally due to their poor implementation of maritime law.

 

[4] According to the World Bank, Bangladesh alone will have since 2010 imported 79.000 tons asbestos; 240.000 tons PCB containing cables; 240.000 tons Ozone Depleting Substances; 69.200 tons heavy metal laden paints from end-of-life vessels by 2030. Yet, Bangladesh has zero capacity to properly manage these toxic materials. Ships are being illegally imported to Bangladesh with fraudulent documents claiming that they are free of toxic materials.

 

[5] Both the Basel and HKC contain explicit conflict-resolution provisions, making it unnecessary to invoke general principles such as lex posteriori (a later treaty prevails) and lex specialis (a more specific treaty takes precedence). Legal experts have furthermore outlined why the HKC does not provide an ‘equivalent level of control’ to the Basel Convention - and thus fails to protect especially developing countries from the dumping of hazardous waste. As such the Basel Convention must remain fully applicable and cannot be displaced by the HKC.

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

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

Press Release – Another worker dies at Alang shipbreaking yard

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

NOTE

 

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

 

 

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

Platform News – EU must take action to end dumping of toxic ships and support capacity building

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

The European Commission published its evaluation of the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SRR) earlier this month. The evaluation clearly identifies several issues that hinder the effectiveness of the EU SRR, including circumvention of the regulation through out-flagging and a lack of detailed EU standards for hazardous waste management and environmental monitoring. Yet, the Commission does not consider a swift revision of the EU SRR an adequate response.

"As identified in the evaluation, the EU SRR has not delivered the expected outcomes in terms of increasing the market share for sustainable ship recycling [1]. With no immediate plans for a review of the EU SRR, we urge the Commission to effectively adopt alternative measures that will boost capacity for sustainable ship recycling and prevent European shipping companies from dumping their toxic ships on beaches in South Asia."
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director and Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

The evaluation also announces an upcoming report on the feasibility of introducing a return scheme for ships trading in the EU to incentivise the use of EU-approved ship recycling facilities. Additionally, it aims to clarify the application of corrective and punitive actions in cases where deficiencies are identified during ship recycling facility inspections and highlights unannounced inspections as an essential tool for ensuring the effectiveness of the EU SRR.

 

To prevent the loss of skills in both the maritime and circular economy sectors and to boost capacity for handling the increasing number of vessels expected to reach end-of-life in the coming years, the EU’s approach to ship recycling must uphold the Polluter Pays principle and contribute to the general policy objectives of the European Green Deal, including optimised material recovery and zero-emission industrial activities. When formulating targets and policy measures under the Circular Economy Act, the Steel and Metals Action Plan, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, and the new Clean Industrial Deal, ship recycling must be recognised as a key contributor to the decarbonisation of the European steel sector.

 

Furthermore, the evaluation finds that the standards set by the EU SRR and their implementation are not sufficiently aligned with EU safety and environmental acquis [2]. Consequently, the Commission intends to develop clearer criteria for the EU approval of ship recycling facilities. The NGO Shipbreaking Platform recommends incorporating measures to optimise material recovery from ships, particularly steel recycling operations. Clear requirements for environmental, health, and safety monitoring and reporting must also be established to ensure that all yards on the EU List operate fully in line with EU standards.

"Double standards have been identified, and they are unacceptable—if a practice is not allowed in the EU, it should not be approved on the EU List. There is no valid justification for allowing EU-flagged or EU-owned ships to be scrapped outside the EU under conditions that would not be permitted within the EU. Beaching—the scrapping of vessels on intertidal mudflats, as practised in all South Asian yards—is not allowed in the EU, nor does the cold re-rolling of scrap steel comply with EU standards."
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director and Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

While the shipping industry is pressuring the EU to accept Indian beaching yards onto the EU List, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform warns that such a move would blatantly undermine the EU SRR’s objective of creating a level playing field that benefits yards operating in line with the EU safety and environmental acquis. It would also seriously threaten the future of the EU ship recycling sector and the recent investments made to establish new ship recycling facilities based on industrial platforms that provide full containment.

 

The evaluation rightly recognises that the International Maritime Organization’s Hong Kong Convention sets far weaker standards than the EU SRR. The NGO Shipbreaking Platform supports the EU’s efforts to take international leadership in amending the Hong Kong Convention to align with the EU SRR while ensuring full and effective implementation of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal as it applies to end-of-life ships.

"Efforts at the international level should not prevent the EU from addressing the issues that weaken the effectiveness of the EU SRR. Expanding the regulation’s scope to include beneficial ownership and introducing a financial incentive are both measures that could improve ship recycling regulations globally. The EU has a track record of taking the lead as an early adopter of safety and environmental measures, later championing their global implementation through the International Maritime Organisation. "
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director and Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

The Polluter Pays principle and Extended Producer Responsibility are fundamental principles of EU environmental policies and must also apply to the shipping sector. By holding EU-based shipping companies accountable—regardless of their vessels’ flags—many more ships would fall under EU regulations, ensuring alignment with broader EU corporate accountability policies. The current opacity of ownership structures in the shipping sector poses several problems, and transparency regarding the European shipping sector’s Beneficial Owners should be ensured, starting with the public disclosure of ownership details for the 21,000 ships classified as EU-owned.

 

NOTES

 

[1] The evaluation report highlights that “shipping companies did not make the shift they were expected to make towards dismantling their ships in facilities on the European List.” It identifies flagging-out from EU registries at end-of-life as a key factor undermining the effectiveness of the regulation. While flags such as Comoros, St Kitts and Nevis, and Palau are alarmingly popular at end-of-life, many EU-owned vessels never sail under an EU flag, or only do so during their early operational years. As the evaluation notes, fewer than 40 vessels are scrapped annually under an EU flag—a figure far lower than the number of ships scrapped each year by EU shipping companies, many of which end up on South Asian beaches.

 

The report further finds that shipping companies swap their EU flags for non-EU flags to access higher prices from yards not included on the EU List. While the shipping sector presents this as a key factor in maintaining global competitiveness, the report shows that the additional revenue gained from substandard shipbreaking yards represents only 0.0020% to 0.0050% of some shipping companies' annual revenues—demonstrating that the industry can afford to manage its end-of-life fleet at facilities that meet EU standards.

 

[2] Some EU-approved yards in Turkey have been found lacking essential environmental safeguards, such as oil-water separators and functional wastewater collection systems, leading to direct environmental discharge. These deficiencies contrast sharply with wastewater management requirements for yards in EU/EFTA countries. Moreover, facilities operating in Aliaga have not undergone an Environmental Impact Assessment or obtained an environmental licence in accordance with Turkish regulations. These are serious concerns that do not align with EU standards for the safe and environmentally sound management of hazardous waste.

The Toxic Tide – 2024 Shipbreaking Records

Posted on by admin_ec

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, 409 ocean-going commercial ships and floating offshore units were sold to the scrap yards in 2024. Of these, 255 of the largest tankers, bulkers, floating platforms, cargo- and passenger ships ended up on the beaches of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, amounting to 80% of the gross tonnage dismantled globally.

 

Last year, at least 9 workers lost their lives when breaking apart vessels on the beach of Chattogram, Bangladesh, and another 45 were severely injured.

 

 

"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.

 

 

Ship recycling in Aliağa under the spotlight

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

SHIP RECYCLING IN ALIAGA UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform has published its report Ship Recycling in Turkey: Challenges and Future Direction. While the publication provides a comprehensive analysis of the current challenges faced by the ship recycling sector in Aliağa, it also underscores the immense potential for driving forward sustainable ship recycling practices and demonstrates a clear path towards achieving this goal.

 

Turkey stands at a crossroads as the recent announcement of plot sales in October 2023 and the upcoming expiration of public land leases in 2026 create an opening to bring needed change to its ship recycling industry.

 

Some of the key operational priorities highlighted in the report include putting in place effective drainage channels and the use of oil-water separators for waste water treatment. Additionally, there is a need for third-party verification of hazardous materials during dismantling, proper operations for hazardous waste removal, and the establishment of standards for secure pulling and lifting equipment, along with introduction of proper gas-free operations and cold-cutting techniques.

 

To ensure adequate oversight of the sector, a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is necessary. This assessment should define environmental licensing processes and enforce existing legal instruments for permitting and monitoring, taking into consideration both safety and environmental aspects. It is also important to continuously monitor the environment in and around ship recycling yards to identify sources of pollution and develop effective remediation strategies. Furthermore, occupational health monitoring is required to identify the underlying causes of accidents and work-related illnesses.

 

Whilst two yards in Aliağa were removed from the EU list of approved ship recycling facilities last year, other non-compliant yards have been allowed to remain listed. As stressed in the report, the lack of governance that allows yards to operate without EIAs or adequate monitoring underscores the necessity for more frequent and unannounced EU inspections, including cross-referencing hazardous waste records and incorporating workers’ perspectives and experience to inform evaluations.

 

Recognising the pivotal role of the European Union (EU) in driving improvements, the report also recommends strengthening the criteria for ship recycling, including waste management and steel recovery operations, under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation.

 

 

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.

 

Platform News – Turkish Civil Society Organisations take legal action to ensure Environmental Impact Assessment of the ship recycling sector in Aliağa

Posted on by Nicola Mulinaris

On 10 January 2024 a coalition of organisations, including Aegean Environment and Culture Platform (EGEÇEP), İzmir Bar Association, TMMOB Chamber of Architects, İzmir Medical Chamber, and eight concerned citizens, filed a lawsuit against Turkiye's Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation, and Climate Change. The legal action challenges the current exemption from the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process for the 22 ship recycling facilities operating in Aliağa. 

 

At the press conference held at the TMMOB Chamber of Architects Izmir Branch on 20 January, lawyer Arif Ali Cangı said on behalf of the Izmir Ship Dismantling Coordination Group “Since the sector started operating in Aliağa in the 1980s, companies have undergone many operational changes, the capacities of the facilities have increased and many different companies have been transferred. However, the facilities have been exempted from the EIA process. The ship breaking sector is one of the main pollution sources of the region and we are concerned that the carrying capacity of the region has long been exceeded.”

 

 

© Emirhan Durmaz / Evrensel

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform highlighted in a recent report problems related to poor law enforcement and monitoring of the ship recycling sector in Aliağa. Scientific studies, including a 2019 report by Turkey’s Ministry of Environment and a 2022 research by TÜBİTAK and Ege University, have determinedly established that the ship recycling sector is a major source of pollution in the Aliağa region. High levels of heavy metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and other toxic substances have been detected in soil and water. Alarmingly, arsenic and lead levels have surpassed limits recommended by WHO and FAO, with water quality in the area rated as poor. 

 

European Union inspection reports also reveal consistent pollution levels far exceeding acceptable thresholds. Two recycling yards in Aliağa, Şimşekler and Işıksan, were removed from the EU's list of approved ship recycling facilities in December 2022 due to their failure to meet minimum environmental and safety standards. Another yard, Egeçelik, is now also under consideration for removal in the EU's upcoming 14th edition of the list. 

 

The environmental and health impacts of the shipbreaking sector in Aliağa need to be properly understood and evaluated for effective mitigation measures to be identified. Measuring the environmental impact of the ship recycling industry furthermore requires an approach that understands the sector as a cluster, and imposes, as a result, upon all yards the implementation of equal measures to curb and contain pollution. 

"An Environmental Impact Assessment is a vital first step towards improving accountability and sustainability in the sector. Today, far too many yards simply blame the “neighbouring yard” for high pollution levels detected. It must be the role of Turkish authorities to evaluate the sector holistically with the aim of halting further accumulation of pollutants that pose serious risk to the environment and local communities."
Ekin Sakin - Policy Officer - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

Similarly, the EU must ensure that facilities approved on the EU List are actually able to conduct meaningful environmental monitoring. The challenges faced by the Turkish ship recycling sector in this regard are even more acute when evaluating the environmental performance of shipbreaking yards operating on tidal mudflats, as is the case in South Asia. There, blaming neighbouring yards or historical pollution when alarming levels of heavy metals and polyaromatic hydrocarbons are detected is also common. In addition, daily tidal flows may in uncontrolled manners disperse toxic discharges – purposefully or not – and thus render their detection difficult to capture. 

 

Setting up a hazardous waste management facility on a tidal mudflat would never receive environmental clearance in the EU. It is also very likely that a proper Environmental Impact Assessment of the ship recycling sector in Turkiye will bring to light that safer and more environmentally sound techniques are needed for the safeguard of public health, local communities and the environment.