Hamburg
-- NGO Shipbreaking Platform and German Left Party in the Hamburg State
Parliament have asked parliamentary questions about the shipbreaking practices
of Hapag-Lloyd and other Hamburg-based ship owners to the Hamburg Government,
known as the Senate. The Hamburg Government has refused to answer questions
concerning partly state-owned Hapag-Lloyd, arguing that the supervisory board
was responsible for controlling the company. Moreover, the Hamburg Government
argued that it had no information about substandard shipbreaking practices for
Hapag-Lloyd ships.
“The Hamburg Government stresses in its answer that
the German commercial fleet was amongst the youngest and most modern fleets in
the world. However, the Hamburg Government is wrong in saying that ship
recycling was therefore of no concern for German ship owners. At least 68
German end-of-life vessels were sent to beaches for breaking in 2013, making it
the second worst country in Europe after Greece. Usually, the sale is
coordinated by a middleman who sometimes guarantees the ship owner that he will
further operate the ship. In fact, the ship goes almost directly for breaking
in South Asia. It would be naïve to believe that ship owners are not aware of
what is going on”, explains Patrizia Heidegger, Executive Director of the NGO
Shipbreaking Platform.
“The
City of Hamburg is very well able to influence the social and environmental
standards of state or partly state-owned companies and to make sure that they
set good examples. The City of Hamburg should immediately meet with Hapag-Lloyd
and work on a sustainable solution for ship recycling”, says Norbert Hackbusch,
the Left Party’s expert for port policy in the Hamburg Parliament.
“The
new EU regulation on ship recycling, which has just entered into force, is
toothless in one decisive aspect. By simply flagging out, ship owners can
circumvent the regulation. Already today, close to three quarters of all
European end-of-life vessels going to South Asia do not fly the flag of an EU
Member State but a flag of convenience, such as Tuvalu, Comoros or Saint Kitts
and Nevis. This is why we urgently need a financial mechanism, such as an
economic incentive for clean and safe recycling. Different models are possible,
for example a financial guarantee for ship owners, which will only be
reimbursed if their ship is recycled in a clean and safe way. The European
Commission is currently working on a list of compliant ship recycling
facilities that must apply the highest environmental and social standards”,
added Member of the European Parliament Sabine Wils.
Source: recycling portal.
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