Ship recycling industry rejoice after import duty cut:

The industry expects rise in number of ships imported to India for recycling

The ship breaking and recycling industry in Gujarat is rejoicing following the Centre's decision to reduce the import duty on ships imported for breaking by from 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent in the recently announced Union Budget for 2014-15. The industry expects rise in number of ships imported to India for recycling.

Industry sources said high import duty and a weak rupee against dollar had diverted business to neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh in the last two years. However, ship-breakers now believe that the reduction in customs duty will bring business back to India.

"We had been demanding reduction in import duty for quite a long time. Finally, the government has heard our voices and reduced the duty. This will surely make our industry strong and help us compete with other countries," said Ramesh Mendapara, vice-president, Ship Recycling Industries Association of India (SRIA).

There is a duty of 2.5 per cent on import of scrap. But, the ship-breaking industry had told the Centre that ships imported are also scrap and demanded equivalent duty for ship recycling industry.

Mendapara said, "We wanted balanced duty on both scrap and ship import. Due to high import duty, selling of domestic scrap had decreased and direct import of scrap has gone up and consequently, ship import had declined in the last two years."

An industry source at Sosiya- Alang ship recycling yard in Bhavnagar said, "Depreciation of rupee against US dollar had a negative impact on ship breaking industry. The rupee is stable now and the government's decision will boost import of ships for recycling."

As per data provided by SRIA, 394 ships were imported in India for recycling during 2012-13. The number went down to 298 in 2013-14 and in the current financial year, till June, 92 ships were imported for breaking. According to Mendapara, after cut in duty, industry is expecting to import 40-45 ships every month for recycling.

Source: business-standard. 18 July 2014

http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/ship-recycling-industry-rejoice-after-import-duty-cut-114071801469_1.html

Platform debates environmental injustice and the role of EU companies at event

Platform holds Annual General Meeting in Brussels

Brussels, 15 July 2014 – The NGO Shipbreaking Platform, a global coalition of environmental, human rights and labour rights organisations dedicated to safe, clean and just ship recycling, organised a debate on “Environmental (in)justice and the role of European companies” on 9 July in Brussels. The event was hosted by the European Asian Institute Studies and co-organised with the European Environmental Bureau/EJOLT and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ). Jim Puckett, Executive Director of the US-based Basel Action Network, chaired the event, which was attended by EU and UN policy makers, representatives of the diplomatic corps of Pakistan, Bangladesh and EU Member States, NGO campaigners, business associations and experts from the ship recycling industry.

The event started with Nick Meynen, from the Global Policies and Sustainability Unit at EEB, who presented EJOLT’s environmental injustice map, which was launched earlier this year. Nick Meynen called on everyone interested in exposing environmental injustice cases to contact EJOLT and to add further information to the map.

Rizwana Hasan, Chief Executive from the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) and board member of the Platform, explained that companies based outside her country, including European ship owners and banks, that choose to send their toxic end-of-life vessels to the beaches of South Asia in order to maximise their profits, share a major part of the responsibility of the shipbreaking crisis. She emphasised that European governments claim that they do not have the capacity to deal with the recycling of their old ships, but expect developing countries to do it for them.

 

Ritwick Dutta, lawyer at New Delhi-based Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE) and board member of the Platform, summarised several prominent cases of large mining projects in India that met strong resistance from the local population and were eventually abandoned.

Jérôme Chaplier, coordinator of the ECCJ, gave insight about current discussions at the EU level on how to hold companies accountable, for example by demanding they disclose information about their investments and their social and environmental implications. However, European policies to ensure transnational companies are held accountable, are still in their infancy. Further regulation is needed to address human rights violations, exploitation and environmental degradation caused or accepted when companies invest or produce goods abroad.

Ingvild Jenssen, policy advisor at the Platform, summarised the latest developments on the EU level regarding the EU Ship Recycling Regulation and stressed that the regulation will only be able to live up to its promise to hold European ship owners accountable for their unsustainable shipbreaking practices if the EU decides to introduce an economic incentive that would help ensure cleaner and safer ship recycling by making re-flagging to flags of convenience less attractive for ship owners.

The event took place while the NGO Shipbreaking Platform’s 19 member organisations (including the secretariat based in Brussels) were convening in Brussels for their annual general meeting, during which they discussed their campaigns in South Asia and in the EU.

Source: shipbreaking platform

http://www.shipbreakingplatform.org/platform-news-ngo-shipbreaking-platform-presents-annual-report-2013/

What’s in store for INS Vikrant?

Will India’s first aircraft carrier be scrapped or made a museum?

On the eve of the Supreme Court decision whether India’s first aircraft carrier ‘INS Vikrant’ should be scrapped, former servicemen made a strong pitch for converting it into a maritime museum.

The Maharashtra government has expressed its inability to preserve it as a maritime museum owing to financial constraints. The 16,000-tonne ship, which had helped to enforce a naval blockade of East Pakistan — now Bangladesh — during the 1971 war, was decommissioned in 1997.

Activists and former servicemen said it was a pity that the government could not allocate funds to preserve a “national treasure” even as it was willing to spend Rs. 200 crore to build the Statue of Unity in Gujarat. “The vessel should serve as an inspiration for the future. It’s a shame that she is parked opposite the Darukhana ship-breaking yard, the graveyard of ships,” lamented former Admiral I.C. Rao.

The Bombay High Court had given the go-ahead for the Vikrant to be auctioned in January, after it rejected a public interest litigation petition to save the vessel and convert it into a maritime museum. The Centre said it was difficult to maintain the vessel.

In March, the Indian Navy sold Vikrant to a Mumbai-based ship breaking company for Rs. 63 crore. However, activists recently moved the apex court in a bid to save the vessel. The Supreme Court in May ordered maintenance of status quo.

“The ship is caught in the crossfire between politicians and scrap syndicate,” said former Captain Lawrence Nathaniel, who served two years on the vessel during the 1960s.

The former servicemen, who nostalgically recalled their time on the ship, would also make representations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

To further their point about the feasibility of the project, they have chalked out a plan to address the safety concerns of all the parties concerned. The vessel would be parked on a concrete platform close to shallow waters, and not kept floating, to avoid the danger of sinking. A suitable spot, west of Oyster Rock, has been zeroed in to park the imposing ship. To make the project commercially viable, corporate firms would be invited to sponsor activities on board and treat it as a tourist hub with a convention centre, said Mr. Rao. The ship has 2.6 lakh square feet of space, of which 50,000 square feet can be developed into a museum. The other space can be used as a convention centre. Mr. Rao spoke of the success of similar projects in New York (USS Trepid) and London (HMS Belfast).

Mr. Nathaniel informed that the Vizag Urban Development Authority (VUDA) in Andhra Pradesh had agreed to adopt the vessel as a maritime museum, provided it was brought to the city.The vessel was purchased as HMS Hercules from Britain in 1957 and rechristened ‘INS Vikrant.’

Source: the hindu. 17 July 2014

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/whats-in-store-for-ins-vikrant/article6218721.ece

GMS weekly report on Bangladesh ship breaking industry for WEEK 28 of 2014:

As their sub continent competitors improved pricing once again, the Bangladeshi market was categorically left trailing with many vessels even proceeding from the East to both Indian and Pakistani markets, in order to enjoy the premiums on offer there.

The monsoon rains have not helped, either leaving much of Chittagong flooded. But the virtually non-existent demand has seen local buyers miss out on a number of juicy vessels of late including capesize bulkers and VLCCs.

Finance also remains an issue with certain local byers struggling to get their LCs in order, for the purchase of new vessels. Many cash buyers are therefore treating Bangladesh with plenty of caution at present and are favoring competing sub continent markets as a result for their existing inventories.

Source: steel guru. 15 July 2014

http://www.steelguru.com/indian_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Bangladesh_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_28/343875.html

GMS weekly report on Indian ship breaking industry for WEEK 28 of 2014:

The encouraging news about Mr. Modi’s first Indian budget as PM, saw a wave of optimism engulf the industry with prices subsequently pushing on between USD 10 to USD 15 per LT LDT. Certain cash buyers also saw it fit to speculate on certain vessels (beyond all apparent reason) with the incredible deal on the CSL RIDE, surely one to come under scrutiny.

It was indeed a bumper week of sales into India with a number of vessels concluded at improving rates. The self-discharging bulker SILICA II (6,060 LDT) was committed for a decent USD 473 per LT LDT, whilst NASCO of China sold another of their older tweens for USD 473 per LT LDT + inward clearance for buyers.

However, the show-stopping sales concerned the THERESA ANTARCTIC (14,910 LDT), which was reportedly concluded late last week, at a strong USD 510 per LT LDT whilst another cash buyer surely chose to overextend themselves on the Croatian built container vessel CSL RIDE (12,953 LDT) for an astonishing USD 531.5 per LT LDT. The decent age, country of build, and significant bunker figs expected to be on board, all contributed to the decent price on show.

Notiwthstanding, this is certainly not reflective of the overall reality of levels at present in India, despite the optimism on the ground. The Indian Rupee spent much of the week trading just below Rs. 60 against the U.S. Dollar and despite the usual fluctuations on local steel plate prices, the overall fundamentals promised plenty of optimism in both demand and pricing ahead.

Source: steel guru. 15 July 2014

http://www.steelguru.com/indian_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Indian_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_28/343872.html