Norway upholds shipowner's prison sentence for scrap sale

Norway upholds shipowner’s prison sentence for scrap sale

by The Editorial Team

June 16, 2022

in Fines

Norway’s supreme court upheld the conviction of shipowner Georg Eide in relation to the attempted export and scrapping of the LASH vessel Eide Carrier.

The court’s decision exhausts his final appeal, with Mr. Eide now facing a jail term of six months. Back in November 2020, the 54-year-old Norwegian shipowner was sentenced to six months in prison for providing assistance in the controversial demolition export of the ship Eide Carrier (later renamed Tide Carrier, Harrier). The shipowner was charged with complicity in waste exports in violation of the Pollution Control Act.

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The Court had also ordered the confiscation of criminal dividends of NOK 2 million from Eide Marine Eidendom AS. Almost a year and a half later his prison sentence confirmed.

As reported, the Court concluded, in line with the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime’s (Økokrim), that the ship owner was aware that the Tide Carrier’s buyer was intending to scrap the vessel in South Asia, in violation of national and European waste rules.

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According to the Appeal Court, having sold the vessel to a middle man and not directly to a beaching yard does not provide for exempting the ship owner from being held liable for having committed an environmental crime.

In addition to Eide’s penalty, Singaporean cash buyer Wirana received a fine of $700,000, and two Norwegian companies had to pay $200,000 and $50,000 (respectively).

Commenting on the recent decision, Økokrim attorney Maria Bache Dahl said that:

This is an important verdict internationally and nationally. As a large maritime nation, it is important that the Norwegian authorities contribute to combating this problem. We have a duty to counteract waste problems caused by activities in Norway, regardless of whether the damage or inconvenience occurs in or outside Norway