25 June 2016

Maersk Slammed for Sidestepping EU Ship Recycling Law

BRUSSELS, Belgium, June 11, 2016 (ENS) – Indian and international environmental groups are taking Danish container ship giant Maersk to task for its statement that the company is considering flagging its end-of-life vessels out of Danish or any other European registry to circumvent the European Ship Recycling Regulation and break the ships in India.

Owners of ships flying the flags of EU Member States must ensure that their ships are recycled only in ship recycling facilities that comply with strict requirements and are included on the European List. The European List will be officially published by the end of 2016.

Maersk says it will have to scrap more vessels in the coming years due to oversupply and low freight rates in the container market, and the company estimates it can earn an additional US$1-2 million per ship by using beaching yards in Alang, India.

After “Maersk Group’s recent announcement of its long-term commitment to create more responsible recycling options in Alang, India, an agreement has been reached for the landing of the first two vessels,” the company announced last month.

Two Maersk Line container vessels, the Maersk Wyoming and the Maersk Georgia, will be recycled over the next few months at the Shree Ram yard in Alang, which is certified to the standards of the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, but is not on the European List.

Until now, the Maersk Group has recycled its ships in selected yards in China and Turkey.

The Maersk Group’s policy is to only recycle ships responsibly, the company says.

In his Foreword to Maersk’s 2015 Sustainability Report, CEO Nils Andersen wrote, “Today, the majority of ships are dismantled and recycled at facilities on beaches. Here, the standards and practices often do not adequately protect the people working at the facilities and the natural environment. We have decided to play a role in changing this situation. Alone and in partnership with others, we will work to upgrade conditions at recycling facilities on the beaches in the Alang area, India, while we remain committed to responsibly recycle our own ships and rigs.”

Annette Stube, head of sustainability for the Maersk Group, said, “By initiating recycling of vessels in Alang at responsible yards, we ensure further development of financially feasible and responsible recycling options to the benefit of Alang and the shipping industry. This development will take time, but we are determined to work with the yards for the long haul,” she said.

“We will also have staff on-site at Shree Ram. They will be working closely with the yard to further upgrade practices, processes and facilities to ensure that the recycling of our vessels complies with our standards,” said Stube.

Stube said conditions are improving in Alang’s ship recycling yards. Following several audits at upgraded facilities in Alang last year, the Maersk Group concluded that responsible recycling can be accelerated in the area, if the company works with the yards now.

“The Alang plans come at a cost for us, but we will invest money and human resources to ensure we can already now scrap our vessels in compliance with the Hong Kong Convention provisions as well as international standards on labor conditions and anti-corruption,” said Stube.

But the environmental groups are not reassured by the company’s statements.

They say that the European Community Shipowners’ Association, ECSA, and its members have found “a convenient solution” in referring to the Hong Kong Convention, an International Maritime Organization Convention that is unlikely to enter into force anytime soon.

The Hong Kong Convention was adopted in May 2009, but it will not enter into force until 24 months after the date of ratification by at least 15 states representing a combined merchant fleet of at least 40 percent of the gross tonnage of the world’s merchant shipping whose annual ship recycling volume during the previous 10 years is at least three percent of the gross tonnage of the combined merchant shipping of the same 15 states.

The IMO says the Hong Kong Convention is aimed at ensuring that ship recycling “does not pose any unnecessary risk to human health and safety or to the environment.”

But the NGOs argue that the Hong Kong Convention does not ban the beaching method, nor does it introduce strict rules on downstream waste management. Moreover, they warn that anyone can hand out Statements of Compliance to shipbreaking yards claiming they operate in line with the convention.

Patrizia Heidegger, executive director of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, said, “Maersk has sent a clear signal: either European environmental regulation accommodates for its practices in India, or the world’s largest ship owner will just ignore the Ship Recycling Regulation by flagging out,” says Patrizia Heidegger, director of Shipbreaking Platform, a nongovernmental organization.

“The threat to resort to non-European flags amounts to blackmailing lawmakers who seek to ensure that European ship owners have to maintain European standards in their business activities around the world,” said Heidegger.

The Clean Shipping Coalition, the only global environmental organization that focuses just on shipping issues, decries pollution caused by shipbreaking on beaches.

The pollution is caused by the dispersal of debris, including toxic paint chips, into the intertidal zone; improper downstream disposal of toxic waste; cracked concrete areas for final demolition; poor accommodations for workers; and an absence of proper environmental impact assessments and permits.

The Coalition’s nine members are: the Air Pollution & Climate Secretariat; Bellona Foundation; Clean Air Task Force; Environmental Defense Fund; Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union; Oceana; Seas at Risk; the North Sea Foundation; and Transport & Environment.

Coalition president John Maggs said, “Maersk is a European company and should abide by European laws. Suggesting that it might use a flag of convenience to escape EU shipbreaking rules designed to protect the environment and worker safety is scandalous, and will seriously undermine its credibility as a responsible ship owner and operator.”

Maggs also serves as a senior policy advisor at Seas At Risk, a marine protection umbrella organisation of environmental NGOs from across Europe that includes 30 member groups in 16 countries.

Sotiris Raptis, shipping officer at Transport & Environment, said, “While Maersk supports innovation in reducing air polluting emissions, this move shows a cavalier attitude towards the environmental impacts of dismantling ships in the intertidal zone. Maersk needs to reverse course on practices that it previously denounced and that would never be allowed in Europe.”

The Seattle-based nonprofit Basel Action Network, BAN, has been working against shipbreaking on beaches for years. The group describes what happens on these South Asian beaches.

“At high tides each month, companies sail huge vessels at full speed up onto the shores. When the tides recede, local workers begin tearing the ships apart, piece by piece. Without safety gear – in baseball caps and flip flops, or boots if they’re lucky – boys and young men cut wires, blast through ship hulls with blowtorches, and haul huge pieces of scrap metal using their bare hands,” says BAN.

Without basic occupational health and safety precautions, the number of injuries and deaths among workers is high. The International Labour Organization considers beach shipbreaking one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.

Local wildlife suffers too. In Bangladesh alone, 21 species of fish have gone extinct and 11 are endangered due to shipbreaking, BAN has documented.

Indian NGOs most recently expressed their concern about the beaching of end-of-life vessels in Alang after an April visit to the Alang shipbreaking yards organized by the European Community Shipowners’ Association, ECSA.

The European ship owners invited government representatives from France, Germany, Belgium and the European Commission on the tour. NGOs, including the NGO Shipbreaking Platform and its Indian members, were not allowed to join the visit.

The European ship owners did not make time to meet with the local trade union or the affected workers.

Ritwick Dutta from the NGO Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment, based in New Delhi, said, “ECSA should be aware of the fact that environmental groups in India remain very critical with regards to the state of the shipbreaking industry in Alang. None of the yards in Alang have to undergo an environmental impact assessment even when they open new yards or set up new infrastructure.”

“EIAs are required by the law,” said Dutta, “and they would ensure a transparent process, including a proper assessment of the environmental impacts of the industry, as well as allow for civil society and local communities such as fishermen to express their views.”

“We share the Gujarat-based NGOs’ concerns and demand that European ship owners do not settle for double standards,” said Heidegger. “Ship owners should only use facilities that operate at a level which is accepted in the European Union. We and our Indian partners believe that the environment, local communities and workers in India deserve the same level of protection which is reflected in the European Ship Recycling Regulation.”

To accelerate the upgrade of more yards in Alang, the Maersk Group said it is building a broader collaboration with other ship owners to increase demand for responsible ship recycling and to find sustainable solutions.

A first step is a planned dialogue with Japanese ship owners in collaboration with the Japanese Ship Owners Association.

Source: environmental news services.

11 June 2016

Norway’s largest Pension Fund highlights human rights and environmental risks related to shipbreaking in South Asia

Brussels, 1 June 2016 – KLP, Norway’s largest pension fund [1], commissioned the International Law and Policy Institute (ILPI) [2] to write a report on the human rights and environmental risks related to the current practice of dismantling end-of-life ships on intertidal beaches. The report entitled Shipbreaking practices in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. An investor perspective on the human rights and environmental impacts of beaching was released last week and examines the shipbreaking practices in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan in light of internationally recognised frameworks for responsible business conduct, as well as the practice of the Council on Ethics for the Norwegian Governmental Pension Fund.

The report argues that the responsibility of companies operating in the global market place does not stop at its own doorstep, but extends to adverse human rights impacts in the entire value chain. KLP joins a number of other investors and clients of shipping [3] that increasingly raise concerns over the current conditions of the shipbreaking industry in South Asia.
“The dismantling of ships using the ‘beaching’ method as it is practiced on the beaches of South Asia is dangerous for people and the environment”, said Jeanett Bergan, head of responsible investment at KLP.

International standards by which corporate responsibility can be measured include the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (UNGP). Companies are required to carry out a risk-based due diligence with respect to the human rights as well as environmental impact of their business activities, including their value chain.

In the report’s foreword, CEO of KLP, HÃ¥vard Gulbrandsen, states: “We hope that the report can help raise awareness of the severe human and environmental risks beaching can entail for shipping industry companies, their customers, and also for other investors. […] KLP hopes to encourage investors to work together to engage with companies on improving labour and environmental conditions. The shipping industry is and will be an important part of Norwegian investors' portfolios for the foreseeable future. KLP's goal is to work towards a future where responsible shipbreaking is the industry standard.”    

NOTES

[1] KLP is Norway's largest life insurance company. Kommunal Landspensjonskasse (KLP) delivers financial and insurance services to the public sector, enterprises associated with the public sector and their employees.

[2] International Law and Policy Institute (ILPI) is an independent institute focusing on good governance, peace and conflict, and international law. Their approach to solving global challenges is based on the integration of law and social sciences and on bridging the gap between academia and politics. They provide research, analysis, policy advice, process support and training to clients ranging from private companies and institutions to governments and international organisations.

[3] Major companies such as H&M, Tetra Laval, ABB, Philips, Volvo and Volkswagen do not want to be associated with substandard shipbreaking practices in South Asia and have asked their forwarders – the shipping companies they use to transport their goods – to adopt sustainable ship recycling policies. For more information click here.

CONTACT

Patrizia Heidegger
Executive Director
NGO Shipbreaking Platform
+32 2 609 44 19


Source: NGO shipbreaking platform

NGO Shipbreaking Platform presents Annual Report 2015



NGO Shipbreaking Platform presents Annual Report 2015
Brussels, 31 May 2016 - The NGO Shipbreaking Platform presents its Annual Report 2015.

Check the new Annual Report to find out more about:

- our findings about global shipbreaking practices in 2015, including an overview of developments on the ground and statistics on the total number of ships dismantled;

- our activities and campaigns in 2015, including our policy campaign aimed at creating a legal framework that ensures the growth of clean and safe ship recycling globally; our corporate campaign calling upon ship owners, cargo owners, ship financers and recyclers to commit to sustainable ship recycling; and our work in the shipbreaking countries, where there is a need for strengthened regulation and implementation of existing legislation to protect the workers and the environment;

- our wide outreach in the press and on social media;

- latest organisational developments. 

Download the Platform’s Annual Report 2015 here, or send us an email to order a hard copy.  

CONTACT

Nicola Mulinaris
Communication and Policy Officer
NGO Shipbreaking Platform
+32 2 609 44 18


Source: NGO Shipbreaking Platform

The Sustainable Shipping Initiative Appoints New General Manager

The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (“SSI”), a pioneering coalition of companies from across the global shipping industry, today announced the appointment of Ian Petty as its first ever General Manager.

The new appointment reflects the SSI’s strengthening in depth and wealth of industry experience, as well as its commitment to providing further resource to delivering its Vision of creating a truly sustainable shipping industry by 2040.

Ian Petty will take responsibility for the day-to-day running of the SSI and continuing to drive this agenda forward. He will be working closely with SSI members to deliver against core elements of the Roadmap, and engaging with and building strong coalitions and support for change within the industry.

Following a period of transition, Alastair Fischbacher, the SSI’s current CEO, will be appointed Co-Chair of the organisation, and will continue to have an oversight responsibility for the SSI. He will work with Ian and Stephanie Draper, SSI Chair, to ensure that the SSI maintains and accelerates its leadership of the industry to a sustainable future.

The SSI has made significant strides in the last few years, including the development of a landmark Roadmap, plotting the key milestones for success in delivery of the Vision; implemented a structure allowing tangible developments in key SSI workstreams on technology and finance; delivered on our shared commitments and showcased leadership; driven progress towards cost effective responsible ship recycling and raised awareness of the attractiveness of maritime careers as well as building the SSI’s reputation as a progressive and authoritative voice providing a long term industry perspective and charting a path towards a sustainable future for everyone.

Alastair Fischbacher said:
“Ian has a wealth of experience in commercial shipping, and will play a key role in driving forward the day-to-day operations of the SSI, championing the implementation of the Roadmap, and working closely with our members to pioneer the social, environmental, and commercial benefits of sustainability. Progress is being made, and it is critical that we continue to inspire the industry to change. This requires more resource from the SSI, as well as commitment from the wider market, including new members, who can work with us to realise our Vision of creating a better, more responsible and more profitable shipping industry.”

Ian Petty has nearly 40 years of experience working within the maritime industry. Prior to joining the SSI he was Director Group Operations and member of the executive management team at P&O Maritime in Australia and Dubai. He was also a Project Director at James Fisher Fendercare and James Fisher Marine Services as well as being a Class 1 Master Mariner with seagoing experience in a range of vessels and trades.

Ian Petty said:
“The SSI and its members have shown considerable commitment by investing their knowledge, resource and expertise to pro-actively inspire change within the shipping industry. The case for a sustainable shipping industry is clear, there is much at stake and a considerable amount that needs to be achieved. However, the opportunities are significant, and I look forward to playing my role within the SSI, as well as with our members and supporters in helping the industry seize them.”

The process to recruit Ian Petty as General Manager was conducted in conjunction with partner Spinnaker Global.

Source: Hellenic shipping news.

Endurance sails from Portsmouth to scrapyard under grey skies

A FEW hardy souls gathered in the rain to say goodbye to a Royal Navy icebreaker as she sailed out of Portsmouth for the last time.

HMS Endurance left the port this afternoon under grey skies.

The ice patrol ship has been scrapped and was making its way to the Leyal Ship Recycling centre in Turkey – the same scrapyard that bought the Ark Royal aircraft carrier.

The outbursts of rain did not put off a small crowd, who lined the shore to see her off.

Among them was Ned Needham, who served as a chief petty officer on board HMS Endurance from 2005 until 2008.

The 42-year-old, from North End, was at the Round Tower in Old Portsmouth with his wife Julia, and their two daughters Emily, seven, and Olivia, five.

He said: ‘It was a very special ship, what we were doing was completely different to anything else in the Royal Navy.

‘And there was a very good ship’s company. We were very close knit, a close team that had good times.’

Endurance served from 1991 until 2008. She started life as MV Polar Circle, built in Norway in 1990 for Rieber Shipping.

Then, in 1991, the icebreaker was loaned for eight months to the Royal Navy before being bought outright by the Senior Service and renamed HMS Endurance in October 1992.

HMS Endurance being towed out of Portsmouth this afternoon Picture: Tom Harrison/ Solent News & Photo Agency 

Endurance played a key role in providing a British presence in Polar waters, performing hydrographic surveys and supporting the British Antarctic Survey in Antarctica.

In 2005, Endurance hosted the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh during the International Fleet Review as part of the Trafalgar 200 celebrations in Portsmouth.

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Source: Portsmouth. 01 June 2016

ISRA and IHMA on Posidonia 7th June 2016

The international branch organizations ISRA (International Ship Recycling Association) and IHMA (International HazMat Association) will organize two workshops at the famous Posidonia event at Athens next week.

Both the choice of the right yard to recycle your ship as choosing the right experts preparing the inventory what is on and in the ship are key elements which will be explained and discussed with ship-owners on Tuesday 7th 2016 from 13:00 to 15:00 in Posidonia Room 2.

The impact of the brand new EU Ship Recycling Regulation for EU flagged ships will be explained by Arjen Uytendaal, Director of ISRA: “This is the right moment to pay attention!”

Fotis Ploumitsakos, member of IMHA will go into inventory matters.

Stakeholders are invited to attend these important workshops.

For more information, please visit: http://isranetwork.com  

Source: your shipbuilding news. 1 June 2016

UN Special Rapporteur concerned about German shipbreaking practices

Brussels — In a written submission to the German Government, UN Special Rapporteur Baskut Tuncak has expressed serious concerns related to the substandard shipbreaking practices of German ship owners, in particular fatalities and toxic chemical exposure of workers and the local population. The Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes has raised shipbreaking as one example where German companies face challenges to prevent harm caused by toxic and hazardous substances.

“German ship owners operate the world’s third largest merchant fleet (in terms of number of vessels), and have been linked to fatalities and toxic chemical exposure of workers and local populations including children, who dismantle end-of-life ships in deadly conditions. In 2014, German ship owners sold a record high 95 percent of their end-of-life tonnage for substandard breaking on the beaches of South Asia,” he writes.

The Special Rapporteur calls on the Government to ensure that companies reduce the use of hazardous substances and prevent double standards. Moreover, he calls on the German Government “to create the much needed incentives and frameworks for German businesses to foster a positive human rights record”. The Special Rapporteur undertook an official country visit to Germany late in 2015, where he met with key stakeholders on the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.

“We could not agree more with the Special Rapporteur’s conclusions. German ship owners need to take responsibility for sustainable recycling and stop the dumping of toxic end-of-life vessels via cash buyers in developing countries. When it comes to end-of-life management, human rights due diligence translates into the ship owners’ responsibility to prevent environmental pollution and the workers’ exposure to hazardous substances,” says Patrizia Heidegger, Executive Director of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform.

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform calls on the German Government to raise the issue with the shipping community and to address their unacceptable practices in the National Action Plan. In 2015 alone, 23 large commercial vessels from Germany ended up in substandard shipbreaking yards, making German ship owners the fifth biggest dumpers globally. Several German ships were broken down in Bangladesh where environmental pollution, hazardous waste dumping and working conditions are the worst: „Apart from Germany’s largest ship owner Hapag Lloyd, which has a progressive ship recycling policy, the rest of the ship-owning community has remained shamefully inactive with regards to finding sustainable and safe solutions to the issue.“ The Platform has been able to link fatal and severe accidents in Indian and Bangladeshi shipbreaking yards to the demolition of German vessels.

Source: recycling portal. 27 May 2016
http://recyclingportal.eu/Archive/23623

Worker killed at shipbreaking yard in Chittagong

4 others injured when iron plate fell on them

A worker was killed and four others were injured as an iron plate fell on them while they were working at a shipbreaking yard in Chittagong's Sitakunda upazila on Sunday.

The dead is Rana Miah, 30, of Gaibandha, said the shipbreaking yard officials.

Abdur Rahman, assistant sub-inspector of Sitakunda Police Station, said the accident took place at Seiko Steel Shipbreaking Yard in Sonaichhari around 6:00pm. Five workers were wounded in the incident.

Rana was rushed to Chittagong Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead. The four others wounded were taken to the hospital of Bangladesh Ship Breakers' Association at Bhatiari in Sitakunda. 

Abdul Hai Khan, deputy inspector general of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishment in Chittagong, said their inspector visited the shipbreaking yard.

“We are investigating whether the workers were provided safety equipment,” he said.

Asked, Osman Gani, manager of Seiko Steel Shipbreaking Yard, said the workers were provided all safety equipment, but they took off those due to severe heat.

“We will compensate the victims' families as per the labour law,” he said.

An unnatural death case was filed in this connection.

Including Rana, at least four workers have so far been killed in accidents in different shipbreaking yards in Chittagong this year. Around 13 workers were killed in accidents in shipbreaking yards last year.

Source: the daily star. 31 May 2016
http://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/worker-killed-shipbreaking-yard-ctg-1232077

BIMCO: BDI Conducts the Demolition Activity:



The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) ’s positive effect on capacity being removed from the fleet did not continue into Q2 2016, as capesize demolition came to a halt.

The BDI went from “devastating” in February to “poor” in April with the highest total demolished DWT ever experienced in the dry bulk market. Unfortunately, BIMCO’s earlier claim was realised when demolition activity slowed down as the BDI improved.

Chief Shipping Analyst Peter Sand comments, “With BDI hitting an all-time low in February 2016, the dry bulk market saw a quarterly record volume of demolished ships in the wake of it. Subsequently, demolition activity came to a halt as BDI increased from March to peak at 703 on 25 April 2016.

"Shipowners were reluctant in the last part of 2015 to scrap, despite clear indications from the BDI, but responded positively in 2016; up by 15 % as compared to the first four months of 2015”.

Demolition age continues to drop
The increase in scrapping has also seen the lowest average age in the past five years. The decline goes hand in hand with the increase in scrapping in 2016. Where capesize in 2015 was the main driver lowering the demolition age, it is now the panamax and handymax segments influencing the decline from a combined 25.8 years in 2015 to 23.8 years in 2016.

Peter Sand adds, “Despite the slowdown in demolition activity in April and May 2016 the decrease in ship demolition age continued from 2015. At an average of 23.3 years today, demolition age has decreased by 20.5 % over the past four years.

Focusing on the two larger segments, we see capesize continue its trend towards the 20-year mark, together with panamax.

The industry needs to break the trend of halting demolition activity as soon as the BDI improves marginally. We can only improve the fundamental market conditions if shipowners are keeping demolition activity up consistently”.

Source: marine link. 27 May 2016

Pension Fund Report Questions Ship Breaking Advances:

A report on the human rights and environmental risks related to ship breaking on the Indian sub-continent was released last week that highlights on-going controversy regarding Statements of Compliance with the Hong Kong Convention and limitations of the E.U. Ship Recycling Regulation.

The report entitled Shipbreaking practices in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. An investor perspective on the human rights and environmental impacts of beaching was commissioned by KLP, Norway’s largest pension fund, and produced by the International Law and Policy Institute. It examines the shipbreaking practices in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.

Since September 2015, the Japanese classification society ClassNK has issued Statements of Compliance (SOC) to four shipbreaking yards in Alang, India. ClassNK issues a SOC to ship recycling facilities which verifies that they are in compliance with the Hong Kong Convention.

However, the report states that the certifications have caused debate over which criteria ClassNK uses to meet certifications and how they interpret the Hong Kong Convention. The environmental organization Bellona has stated that even at yards that have built some permanent structures, the waste is still dumped in the tidal zone and the organization queries why media and NGOs are denied access to the yards to ascertain whether the requirements of the Hong Kong Convention are indeed fulfilled.

ClassNK lists impermeable flooring as a key criterion for compliance certification, but the NGO Shipbreaking Platform points out that the yards certified do not all have impermeable flooring where ship-cutting is conducted.

Additionally, the report states: Whilst there is clearly a development for the better at some shipbreaking yards in India, it remains an open question to what extent the human rights and environmental concerns are addressed. Leading NGOs and media were hoping to join the delegation that visited shipyards in Alang in April 2016, but were in the end denied access.

The report states that the new E.U. Ship Recycling Regulation can easily be circumvented by shipowners reflagging their vessels. The regulation aims to direct ships flying the flag of a Member State to E.U.-approved ship recycling facilities that practice safe and environmentally sound methods of dismantling ships

“Weak enforcement systems will continue to challenge implementation of international standards in the states that are home to the shipbreaking yards. Hence to a large degree addressing the environmental and human rights issues related to shipbreaking on the beaches in South Asia is, and will continue to be, a matter of how the shipping companies respond to the calls for sustainable and safe ship recycling practices.”

The report argues that the responsibility of companies operating in the global market place does not stop at its own doorstep, but extends to adverse human rights impacts in the entire value chain. International standards by which corporate responsibility can be measured include the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (UNGP). Companies are required to carry out a risk-based due diligence with respect to the human rights as well as environmental impact of their business activities, including their value chain. For shipping companies, this would entail taking responsibility of their ships from cradle to grave, as recommended by the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association, states the report.

In the report’s foreword, CEO of KLP, HÃ¥vard Gulbrandsen, states: “We hope that the report can help raise awareness of the severe human and environmental risks beaching can entail for shipping industry companies, their customers, and also for other investors. […] KLP hopes to encourage investors to work together to engage with companies on improving labor and environmental conditions. The shipping industry is and will be an important part of Norwegian investors' portfolios for the foreseeable future. KLP's goal is to work towards a future where responsible shipbreaking is the industry standard.” 

Source: the maritime executive. 1 June 2016.

Rizwana: HC directives for ship-breaking sector vastly ignored

The state authorities are yet to implement most of the High Court directives for the sake of the country's ship-breaking industry, says Bangladesh Environmental Lawyer’s Association Chief Executive Syeda Rizwana Hasan.

The Bela chief blamed the government's political will for its controversial role in the process.

“To make Bangladeshi's ship-breaking industry clean, the high court imposed some restrictions while the government wants to promote the ongoing hazardous situation in the sector,” said Syeda Rizwana Hasan.

Rizwana made the statement while addressing a conference titled “Supreme Court Directives on Environmental Justice: Ship-breaking at the National Access to Justice” in CIRDAP international conference centre in the capital on Saturday.

Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, Bela and Bangladesh Women Lawyer's Association hosted the day-long event.

In the 2010 directives, the HC told the government that: “A hazardous and polluted manners in the ship-breaking sector cannot continue on the open beaches without proper safety of the workers and keeping the eco-system of the coastal area vulnerable”.

The HC opined that the government has no authority to lease out seashores, coastal areas and forests for the ship-breaking yards, she continued.

“Leasing out seashores and the lands of coastal green belt in favour of the ship breakers is against the public interest, and without lawful authority and legal effect,” Rizwana said.

Some data presented by her stated that Bangladesh imported 72 ships in between March 2009 and June 2011 while the number stood at 206 in 2012, 194 in 2013, 222 in 2014 and 194 in last year.

The ships are mostly from EU belt countries - Germany, Denmark, Bulgaria, Poland, Belgium, Greece, Italy, UK, Cyprus, Netherlands and Malta – aiming to break those in the Bangladeshi yards.

Source: Dhaka tribune. 4 June 2016