The Bangladeshi Department of Environment (DoE) has fined a Chittagong-based shipbreaking company, after it was found illegally dismantling a grounded vessel on the beach in Chittagong.
On Sunday, the company, identified by local media as Four Star Enterprise, appeared on a hearing and was fined Tk 2 crore (US$240,000) for breaking the bulk carrier ‘Crystal Gold’, which had been stranded for two years at Parki Beach of Anowara upazila, without its clearance.
According to the Chittagong Region of Bangladesh’s Department of Environment, the company proceeded with the dismantling without a permit, causing marine pollution in an area which is not designated for shipbreaking.
Dirty and dangerous ship scrapping on the beach (beaching) constitutes a grey spot in Bangladeshi ship recycling industry and has been strongly criticized by global NGOs for many years, with marine pollution, hazardous waste dumping and unsafe working conditions, as well as the illegal exploitation of child workers, being among the key areas of concern.
According to an EU report on global concerns over the use of beaching method in most facilities outside EU, vessels are full of hazardous materials, such as asbestos, chlorine compounds, heavy metals and residue oils, and on a tidal mudflat it is not possible to contain these toxics – instead they are washed out to the sea, and ravage coastal ecosystems.
On 26 November 2018, the second phase of an IMO-implemented project to enhance safe and environmentally sound ship recycling in Bangladesh was launched in Dhaka. The 19-month project, funded under a US$1.1 million agreement with Norway, will focus on legal and institutional analysis of ship recycling in the country and will develop a roadmap for the Government of Bangladesh to accede to Hong Kong Convention.
