The NGO Shipbreaking Platform issued its Annual Report 2014.
The report includes:
- a summary of the Platform’s findings about global shipbreaking trends in 2014, statistics on the total number of ships dismantled in 2014, when 62.5% of all end-of-life ships from all over the world were broken in South Asia (India: 309 ships or 30%; Bangladesh: 222 ships or 22%; and Pakistan: 110 ships or 10.5%);
- NGO Shipbreaking Platoform’s activities and campaigns in 2014: the Platform’s Annual General Meeting in Brussels; Platform’s European campaign to ensure that European policy makers find sustainable solutions to the current shipbreaking crisis; Platform’s corporate campaign led with progressive shipping companies, cargo owners and ship recyclers who commit to responsible recycling practices; our international campaign; and the South Asian campaign in the shipbreaking countries, where the Platform and its member organisations advocate for regulation and action to stop illegal imports of toxic ships and the implementation of existing legislation to protect the workers and the environment; and
- a presentation of Platform’s new partner organisations, and the changes to the Platform’s Board structure and the secretariat.
More than 1,000 large commercial vessels were dismantled in 2014 around the world – bulkers, cargo and container ships, tankers and passenger ships. Most of these ships were owned by companies based in Europe – such as Greece, Germany or Norway – or in the East Asian shipping hubs, first and foremost China, South Korea, Japan and Singapore. In terms of tonnage, 74% of the old vessels were dismantled in the shipbreaking yards on the beaches in South Asia. Only a few shipowning companies made a conscious choice to sell to a modern ship recycling facility, to voluntarily set themselves high standards for clean and safe recycling, and to monitor the recycling process until the end to ensure that their ship was dismantled properly.
Ship owners sell vessels due to the overcapacity of commercial ships around the world and unprofitable market conditions for certain types of vessels. They mostly look for the highest price without considering the negative impacts for workers, local communities, and the environment. Asking the maximum price means selling the ship to substandard yards on the South Asian subcontinent. Clean and safe recycling involves higher costs for infrastructure investments, hazardous waste removal and disposal, as well as measures for environmental protection and workers’ health and safety. Sadly, most ship owners are not yet willing to take account of these costs.
Hazardous wastes in the end-of-life vessels are not properly removed and disposed of in the shipbreaking countries: large quantities are still dumped without the necessary precautions or are even resold. The shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh and Pakistan does not have any hazardous waste management system, that is, there is no landfill for the safe disposal of asbestos or treatment facilities for materials containing heavy metals or waste oils. In India, asbestos-containing materials can be re-sold and none of the three countries have a PCB destruction facility.
Breaking ships on beaches is neither safe nor environmentally sound. The primary cutting of the vessels takes place on mudflats in the intertidal zone without the possibility to control leakages and to dredge contaminated sediments. Pollutants are washed out by the tides. Moreover, the ships are broken down manually by a workforce that is still not adequately protected from exposure to toxic fumes and dusts. The workers do not wear safety harnesses and risk falling from great heights – many of them use rope ladders to climb the ships. Due to the impracticality of using heavy cranes and lifting equipment next to the ship, beaching entails the use of gravity to remove huge steel parts which regularly causes severe injuries and fatal accidents. The beached ships are furthermore not directly accessible to firefighters and medical teams in the event of accidents, fires and explosions. Workers trapped in tanks can suffocate to death as nobody can rescue them on time.
The current beaching practice is prohibited in the ship-owning countries in Europe, North America and East Asia where stricter environmental laws as well as health and safety provisions are in place and enforced. That being said, not all of the remaining 26% of the global tonnage was dismantled using best practice procedures and performance standards in ship recycling facilities in other parts of the world, mainly in China and Turkey. Advanced methods of ship recycling such as pier-side demolition or landing ships on impermeable and drained slipways have the potential to be cleaner and safer. Nevertheless, ship recycling remains a hazardous industry and requires the highest safety standards for workers and the environment to be enforced everywhere
After the new EU Ship Recycling Regulation entered into force in December 2013, the year 2014 was marked by a vivid debate amongst policy makers, ship owners and their associations, NGOs and ship recycling experts on the right standards for clean and safe operations. The European Commission organised stakeholder consultations on its FAQ to the Ship Recycling Regulation, its interpretation of the Regulation. The Platform welcomed that the Commission’s representatives kept a clear stance: current substandard practices in South Asia will not be acceptable for European end-of-life ships and every ship recycling facility will be scrutinised, certified and audited in order to be listed by the Commission. Moreover, the Commission has expressed its intention to make sure that breaches of the new Ship Recycling Regulation will fall under the EU Environmental Crimes Directive, that is, severe breaches have to be sanctioned under criminal law by Member States.
This debate has finally sparked more interest within the ship owners’ associations throughout, which now deal actively with the issue to find solutions. Several associations will recommend to their members, the ship owners, to use the Commission’s list of compliant ship recycling facility as a reference – which means going beyond legal obligations. The EU Ship Recycling Regulation is setting the standard for clean and safe ship recycling, inside and outside Europe: it is the first standard to be backed by states, enforced by authorities and certified by independent third parties with adequate qualifications. Leading shipping companies declared their commitment not to use substandard facilities anymore in 2014. Amongst those now seeking clean and safe recycling are Teekay Corporation from Norway and Hapag-Lloyd from Germany, which has already sold several end-of-life vessels to modern yards off the beach. These industry leaders will play a pivotal role for lasting change. The Platform will maintain its dialogue with progressive ship owners and will continue naming and shaming companies that opt for beach breaking.
You may view the report by clicking below:
Source: NGO Shipbreaking Platform
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