Hamburg,
7 February 2014 – Today Member of the European Parliament Sabine Wils (GUE/NGL)
and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform have protested in front of Hamburg-based ship
owners against their substandard practice of beaching end-of-life vessels in
South Asia.
At
the same time, the German Left Party in the Hamburg State Parliament, in
cooperation with Sabine Wils and the Platform, has asked parliamentary
questions about the shipbreaking practices of Hapag-Lloyd and other
Hamburg-based ship owners to the Hamburg Government, known as the Senate.
However, 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.
“Shipbreaking
on beaches in South Asia is a highly dramatic practice which puts human life
and the environment in danger. Of course, the City of Hamburg must show its
responsibility – both as a location of the maritime industry and as the largest
shareholder of Hapag-Lloyd. The City 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
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
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”,
says MEP Sabine Wils (GUE/NGL).
CONTACT:
Office
of Sabine Wils, Constantin Braun, mobile: +49 151 5253 5433, e-mail: constantin.braun@ep.europa.eu
NGO
Shipbreaking Platform, Patrizia Heidegger, mobile: +49 179 9087 016, e-mail: patrizia@shipbreakingplatform.org
Source: NGO Shipbreaking Platform.
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