Indian Shipbreaking industry busy striving to maintain top form:

MUMBAI: Even as there is an ongoing war of words between environmentalists, authorities and trade over entry into Indian waters and subsequent dismantling of some ships which are controversial in nature and content, the country's shipbreaking industry is busy sealing its current position as world's top shipbreaking nation.

In 2011-12 ,India reclaimed its lost position as the world's largest ship-breaking nation with its yards in Alang and elsewhere demolishing 415 ships. According to industry sources, another 150 plus vessels are waiting for their turn at the dismantling units.

While Pakistan emerged as the second largest shipbreaking country, Bangladesh and China took the third and fourth positions, respectively. Though Bangladesh used to filch the top slot in shipbreaking till recently, the industry in the neighbouring country is yet to find its feet as social and political pressures have dislodged its working in full form.

"We do not really know what is happening on the government front about its response to European Union's proposal to change ship recycling regulations ," said a shipbreaker from Alang. "The industry is doing pretty good,thanks to large supply of vessels for breaking.The dollar appreciation against Rupee did not impact much of the business," he added.

However, the trade body that he is a member, Iron Steel Scrap & Shipbreakers Association of India (ISSAI) said that the government has contacted industry stakeholders for their comments on the various changes proposed by the EU.

In its reply to the ministry of steel,which is the focal ministry for ship-breaking in the country, ISSAI said that India should strongly oppose the proposed EU Regulations on export of ships for recycling. 'First and foremost it infringes the sovereign rights of India in controlling an industrial activity on its soil," noted the letter.

It also reminded the government that the industry has always maintained that the IMO Hong Kong Convention on Ship Recycling, which the EU is strongly supporting, eventually intends to do away with the economical 'beaching' method followed by India in ship recycling .

According to local breakers, whether it is EU flagged ships or any other ship dismantled in Indian ship recycling yard, all are subject to local regulations, including Supreme Court directives . Substantial improvements have already been made at Indian facilities.

"The industry is not against improvements. Additional requirements can be made through national laws but not by getting Indian ship recyclers registered with EU," said PS Nagarsheth,president of the association .

"Instead of improving the implementation and monitoring of their regulation, they have proposed the new regulation not to curb the loop holes but to give freedom for non compliance of the present regulation to ship owners. It is a clear attempt to pass responsibility of ship owners /EU citizens to non OECD countries/ship recyclers ," he added.

"They have no right to interfere in sovereign rights of other nations," said Mr Nagarsheth.

"It is a pretty difficult task for the authorities to play the balancing act when it comes to living upto International Conventions even as you play the supporting role to local industries ," was the cryptic reply that a shipping official could give when asked to comment.

Meanwhile, protests and demonstrations voice concerns of environmentalists and organizations against illegal entry into Indian waters or presence of controversial foreign vessels in Indian shores for demolition.

For example, in his letter to over a dozen government authorities , Gopal Krishna, convener of Toxics Watch Alliance (TWA), pointed to the illegal movement of end-of-life US ship Exxon Valdez in Indian waters. The Delhi-based environmental group keeps track, among other things, of corporate crimes and their impact on humans and ecosystem.

"... It is reliably learnt that the hazardous and end-of-life US vessel has got permission to anchor off Bhavnagar from Gujarat Maritime Board on June 28,2012.This vessel is moving to Bhavnagar in the name of inspection by the GMB and Gujarat Pollution Control Board. Its movement must be halted to demonstrate that Indian law enforcement agencies are not subservient to US Ship Disposal Policy."

He said its presence 'off Mumbai is a manifest act of illegality . The violation of Supreme Court's order, international law and the complicit violations of Indian laws and US law is on full display.'

According to him, another hazardous US ship, 'Delaware Trader' has been cleared by the US maritime administration for dismantling in the shipbreaking yards of Alang.

TWA demands that 'Delaware Trader' should not be allowed to enter Indian waters. These ships enter Indian waters and present fait accompli to the law enforcement agencies.

Source: The Economic times. 30 July 2012

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-07-30/news/32942503_1_ship-owners-shipbreakers-association-indian-ship

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN – RIO+20: IN SOUTH ASIA, IT IS SURVIVAL THAT COUNTS… NOT THE ENVIRONMENT

Half a world away from here, a high-profile U.N. conference will kick off June 20 to discuss ways to create a “green” global economy.

For impoverished countries like Bangladesh, the ramifications could be huge.

A topic that is bound to be raised at the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Rio de Janeiro is whether it is possible to engage in economic activities that can both eradicate poverty but not harm the environment.

For the tens of thousands of Bangladeshis involved in the ship breaking industry, the decisions reached in Brazil might determine their future–and not necessarily, in a way that will help them.

While conference delegates gather in impressive surroundings to thrash out the world’s problems, legions of dirt-poor Bangladeshis will do what they have to everyday to survive: toil away at dangerous jobs for a pittance because they have no other choice.

A large freighter that has been beached is being broken up for recycling. Its steel body lies split open, exposed to the elements.

Dozens of workers are busy with acetylene torches, showering sparks everywhere.

A huge chunk of steel is being worked on. The workers, scurrying around barefoot, haul heavy chunks of metal on their backs and in their bare hands.

The shoaling beach extends more than 10 kilometers and is located some 30 km north of Chittagong, the second largest city in Bangladesh.

More than 100 sites are set up as yards to demolish large vessels.

Decommissioned ships are run aground and then hauled to the beach with ropes, much as slaves in ancient Egypt moved huge stone blocks to build the pyramids.

The method is called “beaching.”

The surface of the nearby Bay of Bengal is awash with fuel oil. Parts of the beach are thick with oil, and workers, if they don’t watch their step, can sink in the sand up to their knees.

It is estimated that 70 percent of all big ships decommissioned in the world are demolished in either Bangladesh, India or Pakistan.

Shipbreaking has been roundly criticized since around 2000 for the damage it causes to the environment, and the lack of safety provisions for workers–who are paid a pittance for putting in 11-hour days of strenuous, dirty and dangerous work.

At the site near Chittagong, Mohammed Jamal Uddin climbed to the deck of a decommissioned vessel and lamented: “My wage is 25 taka (about 25 yen, or 30 U.S. cents) an hour. I work 11 hours a day. So I can get only 300 taka at most, including overtime money.”

Asked why he chose this line of work, the 42-year-old replied: “I have no choice. We have no (other) jobs because there are too many people in Bangladesh.”

The shipbreaking business is highly competitive, a situation that is fueled by extremely low labor costs.

Workers are employed on a seasonal basis, or for the several months required to demolish a single vessel.

Demand for demolition fluctuates sharply.

For this reason, operators of ship breaking businesses avoid offering regular employment.

They also cut corners on safety costs and steps to preserve the environment.

Such cost-cutting is possible due to the government’s loose regulations on labor and environmental protection. This only serves to fuel a vicious cycle.

But Nazmul Islam, secretary of the Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association, counters the criticism that operators are sacrificing the environment and safety.

“We are offering helmets and gloves to workers. But they do not want to use them.”

Immediately after I interviewed him, one worker who was caught by steel doors while working died in early May.

According to local news reports, at least 38 workers died on the job during the past 44 months, including the man cited above.

Environmental pollution is another factor.

In 2010, the World Bank estimated that 38,000 tons of asbestos and 24,000 tons of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) will accumulate in the ship breaking yards in Chittagong in the next 20 years. It also said that a huge volume of hazardous materials will flow out to markets for parts removed from the ships.

An official of the Bangladeshi government’s Ministry of Environment and Forest countered the estimates, calling them excessive. However, the official conceded that the ministry has no data on the issue.

Iftekhar Uddin Chowdhury, a professor of sociology at Chittagong University who has conducted on-the-spot research, acknowledged there are a number of problems in the ship demolition industry.

Even so, Chowdhury said the industry was a vital cog in the economy of Bangladesh because it employs tens of thousands of workers.

Besides, Bangladesh has to depend on decommissioned ships for raw materials of steel products because the country has no iron mills.

“The only way to improve the industry is through investment,” he said. “But that will prove difficult if we leave it to the demolition business operators, who tend to see only short-term profits. That is the problem.”

In neighboring India, however, people in the industry have already begun to address the situation.

The world’s largest ship demolition area is located at Alang beach in Gujarat state, north of Mumbai. It has 131 operating yards, which account for about 90 percent of the demolition volume in India, the world’s No. 1 in the industry by volume in 2010.

There, much of the demolition work has been mechanized, giving India a huge advantage over the manual labor that is the hallmark of the work in Bangladesh.

Workers also are provided with more up-to-date equipment.

But the beaching method, which causes oil to spread on the surface of the sea, is also used there. But perhaps, not for long.

Plans are being drawn up to lay concrete on the beach to prevent oil leaking and to construct a facility to dispose of the oil.

The government of Gujarat state, which owns the beach, is working with Japan on details of the project.

The Japanese government is set to provide yen-denominated loans for the project.

Japan’s involvement stems from its 2009 decision to adopt the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, which obliges members to manage hazardous materials appropriately and devise sound methods of disposal.

If the Hong Kong Convention takes effect, it will become impossible to demolish ocean-going ships in facilities other than those that meet certain standards.

Japan is still one of the world’s biggest maritime powers. It had a 21-percent share of newly constructed vessels, based on volume, in 2010. The same year, the volume of ship tonnage effectively owned by Japanese companies amounted to 14 percent on a worldwide basis.

“If we neglect the (environment and safety) issues at ship breaking yards, the yards will cease to exist,” said a source in the Japanese shipping industry.

In Bangladesh, local nongovernment organizations (NGOs) for environmental protection have repeatedly succeeded in getting courts to issue operation suspension orders to ship breaking yard operators since 2009. As a result, ship demolition volume there has decreased drastically.

The Bangladeshi government was compelled to compile regulations in 2011 for the first time. However, few people think the regulations have teeth.

Before and shortly after World War II, Japan was the main industry player. That honor transferred to Taiwan in the 1970s. In and after the 1990s, however, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and China have accounted for more than 90 percent of all ship demolition in the world.

The demolition volume has drastically increased since the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008. Ships generally have a lifespan of between 20 and 30 years. The large number of vessels that were constructed in and after the second half of the 1990s will soon be destined for demolition.

But when that happens, there could be a shortage of shipbreaking yards.

For the companies in developed countries that construct and operate the vessels, ship demolition is nothing more than disposal of industrial waste. The transfer of hazardous materials across national borders was restricted by the Basel Convention that took effect in 1992.

In the case of ocean-going ships, however, shipowners’ countries are often different from those where the vessels were registered. Besides, the ships usually cross national boundaries, making it difficult to apply the restrictions to those vessels.

The Hong Kong Convention is not without its problems, either.

For example, it has no international inspection system to check demolition facilities.

Source: Shipbreaking Platform. By Susumu Yoshida. 14 June 2012

http://www.shipbreakingplatform.org/the-asahi-shimbun-rio20-in-south-asia-it-is-survival-that-counts-not-the-environment/

Ship Recycling: TradeWinds Business Report

Ship recycling is an unfashionable industry but one that in the past couple of years has caught everyone’s attention.

It can be a dirty and dangerous business that until recently most shipowners have largely ignored until their vessels reach maybe 25 years old.

But with owners buckling under the pressure of depressed freight rates and still more newbuildings set to join already bloated sectors of the market, ship scrapping is suddenly viewed as a potential panacea.

It happened back in the bad old days of the 1980s. History is repeating itself. 

But this time, the scale of scrapping could beat even the record 42 million dwt to 44 million dwt that went to the torch in 1986.

The first two months of this year saw more than nine million dwt of ships sold for recycling, including 10 capesize and 22 panamax bulkers, as well as five VLCCs and six suezmax tankers. On an annualised basis, 2012 could see 50 million dwt turned to scrap.

Both bulkers and tanker owners are feeling the pain and with a 20-year-old capesize fetching over $9m by being recycled, why go to the expense of a special survey only to 

be paid a mere $6,000 per day in freight?

However, questions are being raised over whether there is even sufficient capacity globally to recycle 50 million dwt of ships, especially given the experience of the last year, which saw Bangladesh disrupted for long periods.

Meanwhile, commercial pressures have obviously blunted owners’ interest in green recycling but the environmental and safety lobbyists will not go away. 

They know they have had an impact and it is only a matter of time before standards in especially Pakistan and Bangladesh have to be improved. Deaths and serious injuries remain all too common.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO)’s Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships continues to be criticised for allowing the beaching of vessels to continue — but ban it and the shipping industry would be in a mess.

Norway says recycling services provided by the Indian subcontinent are needed and, like Japan, it is providing financial aid to lift standards. The argument will continue for years as to whether such moves are misguided and the only satisfactory answer is by investing in new systems more akin to what happens in China.

No state has yet ratified the IMO convention and even conservative estimates are that it could be another five years before it enters into force.

With more than 1,000 ships likely to go for scrapping in 2012, the pressure is increasing for some of the technical aspects of the convention to be introduced voluntarily.

So far there is little evidence of owners falling into line, with top dollar still their priority.

Source: TradeWinds Business Report. By Geoff Garfield. 9 March 2012

Grieg Green AS: Green Ship Recycling Service Provider

Ship Recycling Industry:

The ship recycling industry has an infamous reputation – mostly due to a total lack of safety and environmental standards. Traditionally vessels have been sold, often through middle men, to the highest bidders – normally the yards who have invested the least in training, equipment and facilities. More than 80% of vessels demolished today still end their lives on polluted beaches somewhere in South East Asia.

Normal practice among ship owners has been to conceal the identity of their vessels before they reach the demolition yard in an attempt to protect their reputation from disreputable recycling methods. The last days of a ship can be in stark contrast to its operating life during which it receives the best care and maintenance whilst upholding all safety standards. We believe, with a little effort and the right choices, the situation can be very different.

There are currently some 300 demolition yards world-wide serving international shipping clients. Less than 10% of these yards are of a standard considered acceptable according to modern regulations for safety and environmental standards. There are vast differences amongst the recycling yards in the most active countries.

India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have scattered and fragmented markets with a few large recycling yards and an array of smaller facilities. Most, if not all, of these yards use the beaching method when demolishing vessels.

Government-approved yards in China use quay-side demolition methods combined with the use of heavy cranes and floating or dry docks in the process. This is a method which Grieg Green finds to be both more environmentally friendly and adheres to international safety standards, hence is our main focus.

The recycling industry has changed dramatically over the last few years. It has developed from being a shameful part of our business to be an area the most modern owners want to be proud of – in the same way they are proud of the standard of their ships in operation. This change has come in part due to the constant focus from environmental groups and the media and has been made possible with a will to change the international legislation governing this area. In a competitive world, the responsibility we have towards our environment cannot be shouldered by some ship owners alone – it must be a common effort from all players in the industry.

The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships was adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in May 2009.

The Convention will regulate the design, construction, operation and preparation of ships to allow for safe and environmentally sound recycling. It will also provide strict guidelines for the operation of ship-recycling yards. The Convention dictates that vessels must carry an Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM)* on-board. Ship-recycling yards will be required to provide a detailed ship recycling plan before work can commence. Member-states will be asked to ensure that facilities under their jurisdiction comply with the Convention. The Convention will enter into force as soon as the ratification process has been fulfilled as per defined criterion.

The *Inventory of Hazardous Materials provides relevant information to recycling facilities about hazardous materials contained in parts or systems of a ship. These are materials that the recycling facilities may encounter during dismantling of the vessel. The inventory also provides valuable safety, health and environmental information for seafarers onboard and for ship yards undertaking repairs or conversions.

Who is Grieg Green?

Grieg Green is a part of the Grieg Shipping Group, a fully integrated Norwegian shipping company with more than 125 years of experience in the maritime industry. The company has always maintained a strong focus on the environmental and sustainability aspects of our industry and is committed to the UN Global Compact’s principles.

Grieg Green builds on the knowledge and experience of the Grieg Shipping Group to offer a new and innovative way to handle the complex ship recycling process that is still financially viable and attractive to ship owners.

The media and social furore over to-date unsavory maritime practices in the recycling industry can be a thing of the past. We are committed to ensure an early implementation of the new IMO Convention for Ship Recycling while maintaining value maximization for our customers.

Grieg Green hand-picks from what we consider to be among the world’s top recycling yards – by using our own “score-card” rating method. We will follow up and obtain reports from regular inspections. We, further more, monitor our portfolio of yards regularly and do our best to bring our clients to the most competitive and environmentally-friendly yards in the market at any given time.

Complicated and financially unrewarding green ship recycling now belongs in the history books with the commitment and dedication from Grieg Green to make the ship recycling industry environmentally friendly and financially viable.

Why Was Green Ship Recycling Challenging?	How Has Grieg Green Made It Attractive?
It’s too expensive	We form valuable alliances with yards that make the price point far more palatable to our customers. We encourage healthy competition among the yards in our portfolio in order that our customers get the best possible price for their vessels. Grieg Green does not rely on one yard alone to ensure that this competition thrives.
It’s too complicated to bother with	We manage the process on behalf of the owner, minimizing the need for in-house knowledge and resource allocation.
The global standards keep changing	We stay on top of the latest regulations for you and update our recycling yards accordingly with minimal changes or disruption to our customers.
There’s no tangible benefit	The legislation in this field is changing so rapidly that what used to be a “recommendation” might soon become “law” and staying ahead of the curve is the best way to ensure minimal operational disruption. The positive publicity and “environmentally-conscious” label also gains importance every day in this global green movement we are experiencing.
It’s too difficult to assess the suitability of the recycling yards and maintain contact with them.	Grieg Green’s experts on the ground have in-depth knowledge and experience on assessing yards and maintaining the relationships with them.
Ship recycling methods can often appear out-dated	We use new and innovative methods to keep costs low whilst ensuring maximum residual value of our customers’ ships.

Environmental Profile:

Along with keeping tabs on the changing legislation on ship recycling and staying on top of the latest trends and prices in the industry, Grieg Green is committed to finding the best recycling yards there are available at our customers’ disposal. These will form the cornerstone of our business and our minimum requirements for yard partners include:

• Adherence to the upcoming IMO Convention on ship recycling
• Non-usage of the beaching method
• Accordance with Grieg Group’s existing safety standards for training and equipment
• Adherence to international standards on waste treatment (internal & external)
• IHM Certification
• Making a ship recycling plan available before transfer of ownership
• Adherence to Grieg Group’s “Supplier Code of Conduct”
• In addition to the above, our highly competent, environmentally-conscious and experienced personnel in Norway and China bring a broad range of diverse skills and knowledge to Grieg Green’s operations, promising our customers top of the line service unparalleled in the industry.

Products & Services:

Grieg Green offers ship-owners an environmentally advanced one-stop-shop covering the entire process of the recycling of a vessel that has reached its maturity. The scope is to manage all steps of the process from the planning of when a vessel should be recycled to the end-reporting and certificates that are issued when the job is completed. The aim is to minimize cost and the ship-owners’ use of internal resources during the planning and execution phase whilst maximizing the residual value of their ships.

We Start Earlier: With our vast experience in ship-owning, technical and crew management, we are able to start working with our clients at a much earlier time in the process than what is normal today. This enables us to carefully plan the last few months of the vessel’s operation, making the last voyages more optimal, manage residual fuel and ensure that the crew are appropriately handled.

            

Get More Out of Your Vessel: When required, we also assist in making detailed plans for the exclusion list to ensure that all parts of high value that can be used on other vessels in your fleet, or sold, are carefully removed and shipped to the right destinations. We are also able to facilitate the sale of these high value items.

Take Out the Hidden Cost: Grieg Green rids our customers of unnecessary and time-consuming intermediaries who add little but cost to the green recycling of vessels.

Shipyard Portfolio: Grieg Green prides itself on an established portfolio of pre-approved shipyards in strategic markets. We are in constant dialog with these partners to communicate our ideas and requirements.

Negotiation: On behalf of the ship-owner, we negotiate directly with the best recycling yards in the market – to secure a competitive offer for the vessel.

IHM: Grieg Green will arrange for your Green Passport / IHM in the most cost-effective and time-sensitive manner.

Document Management: Grieg Green facilitates and advise our customers on complying with documentation related to the vessel and the recycling of it.

Logistic Management: Grieg Green supports our customers (the ship owners) with logistics services like last voyage optimisation, last port assistance, equipment and spare-parts recovery.

Shipyard Supervision: Our experienced surveyors follow the recycling process at the yard to monitor that environmental and safety are followed the best way possible. We report on a weekly basis to the ship-owner and prepare an extensive final report upon completion.

Process of Ship Recycling:

Cost:

The cost of environmentally conscious ship recycling is exaggerated. The price difference between the low and the high end yards is dynamic and varies with several market drivers such as steel demand and tax incentives, but is normally not nearly as high as most owners think. The service customers receive offers a significantly lower risk of environmental and safety issues, not to mention to your brand and reputation. By letting Grieg Green do a valuation of potential items aboard your vessel that can be sold or reused, this price difference can easily be absorbed and even add a positive margin from your choice of going green.

Grieg Green is a flexible service provider. Our customers can choose between a package solution that includes all of our services or decide to pick individual solutions from our products list. We are committed to ensure that our services are of the highest quality, following all the principals of the Grieg Group when it comes to environmental, safety and transparency standards while always making sure that our cost levels are very competitive in the market. We strive to eliminate intermediaries in the sales transaction so that you, as a customer, can be certain to get 100% value from any fees or commissions paid in the process.

Get a Quote From Grieg Green:

Grieg Green will, as your advisor, negotiate with what we believe are among the best shipyards in the recycling industry to provide our clients with a very competitive offer for your vessel. We encourage healthy competition between the yards in our portfolio and will not accept any unreasonable drop in prices from the yards just to have the “Green” label on their services. Grieg Green does not act as a cash buyer or a broker and does not charge any kind of commission to negotiate the sale for our customers. We base our income solely on fixed fees that are carefully explained to you before you decided to do business with us.

Quick & Effective:

To provide you with a quote for your vessel, we need to receive some information about the ship.  By following the below link you can download a form where you can fill out the information we will need to give you an accurate quote. Try to fill out the vessel information sheet as complete as possible, but if you are missing some of the requested information, don’t worry about it. Send us what you have. Further more, if you have any items/parts from the vessel that you, at this time, know want to keep, please mention these in the exclusion list, as found in a separate tab in the form.

Contact:

Norway: Grieg Green AS

P.O. Box 513 Skøyen. Karenslyst allé 2. 0214 Oslo. Norway

Tel: +47 23274100. Fax: +47 23274101

China: Grieg Green AS

Unit 2904-2917, Shanghai Central Plaza. No. 381, Huai Hai Zhong Road

Shanghai 200020. P.R.China.

Tel: +8621 6171 1100. Fax: +8621 6171 1102

Contact email: green@grieg.no.

Source: Grieg Green

http://www.grieggreen.no

Maersk wants to end “beachings”:

A.P. Moller - Maersk has a policy on responsible ship recycling at least 5 years before international requirements on workplace safety and environment enter into force.

A large part of the world shipping industry still uses once pristine tidal beaches in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan as a junk yard.

Between 60% and 80% of the world’s out-of-service vessels are sailed on shore there and cut to bits and pieces by thousands of workers, often barefooted, and often with no safety protection whatsoever. Accidents, explosions and deaths are commonplace in what is the world’s most dangerous work place, according to the UN’s International Labour Organization, ILO.

The scene is different at the China Changjiang Ship Recycling Yard in Jiangyin near Shanghai.

The yard, used by Maersk, lives up to stringent international standards for safety and environment. Standards that are now also part of the Group policy approved by Maersk’s Executive Board in January.

To date Maersk has successfully recycled ships in China without a single injury.

“When we sell a ship to be recycled in a responsible way, we often get USD 1 million less than what we could have obtained otherwise. But that’s the cost of being a responsible corporate citizen,” says Soren Andersen, Head of Maersk Line Vessel Management.

Traditionally Maersk has sold its ships long before the end of their operating life, but up until the mid-1990s a few of the Group’s vessels were nevertheless scrapped when no better alternatives were available.

Still, Maersk decided early on to invest in responsible dismantling methods and became one of the first movers in the industry. By 2008 the executive arm of the European Union held up Maersk as a good example.

“European ship owners can be expected to act in a spirit of corporate social responsibility. Practical examples for this exist already today,” The European Commission wrote in a strategy paper. The word “examples” referred directly to Maersk.

 

Now, international requirements are approaching within an estimated five years, and Maersk is making a business out of responsibility. A special unit for ship recycling takes in outside clients as well.

“Recycling is a very dangerous business, but it doesn’t have to be more dangerous than building ships. It’s the same thing, only in reverse,” says Tom Peter Blankestijn, Director of Maersk Green Ship Recycling.

Green organisations are indeed lauding Maersk for being ahead of the rest of the industry.

“We applaud Maersk for showing leadership and taking a stance against the dangerous and polluting practice of breaking ships on tidal beaches,” says Ingvild Jenssen from the NGO Platform on Shipbreaking.

Source: Maersk Line. 5 July 2010 

http://www.maerskline.com/link/?page=news&path=/news/story_page/10/beachings