The NGO Shipbreaking Platform published its 2024 annual list of ships dismantled worldwide revealing that 80% of the global tonnage scrapped last year was broken under substandard conditions.
According to data released by NGO Shipbreaking Platform, 409 ocean-going commercial vessels were sold to the scrap yards in 2024. Of these, 255 large tankers, bulkers, offshore platforms, cargo and passenger ships were broken down on the beaches of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, amounting to more than 80% of the gross tonnage dismantled globally.
As in 2023, China tops the 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. In 2024 no less than 13 vessels were exported from South Korea to India and Bangladesh. International law is, however, that 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.
Breaches of environmental laws
It is easy for shipowners to circumvent or breach with impunity existing laws that aim at protecting vulnerable communities and the environment from the dumping of toxic waste.
Two ships de-registered from a European flag registry prior the last voyage to the breaking yards in order to circumvent the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, which demands the recycling of EU-flagged vessels only in approved facilities in Europe, Turkey and US.
Furthermore, at least nine vessels were sold to beaching yards in breach of the EU Waste Shipment Regulation, which bans all exports of hazardous waste to non-OECD countries. Ship owners do not declare ships as destined for recycling. Instead, they often provide authorities of the exporting countries with false claims of further operational use or repair work in order to avoid being held accountable.
The number of vessels that European shipowners sold to the South Asian beaches is however much higher. Only if Europe, and other parts of the world, adopt a return scheme for all ships trading in their waters will end-of-life vessels effectively be diverted to safe and clean recycling yards.
As parts of the shipping industry are keen to see beaching yards rubber-stamped by the Hong Kong Convention that will enter into force in June 2025, the European Union is still to reveal proposals for strengthening its EU Ship Recycling Regulation.
In its latest quarterly report, NGO Shipbreaking Platform also drew attention to hazardous materials in shipbreaking practices, such as asbestos and heavy metals like lead, cadmium and mercury.