Non-Governmental Organisation, Shipbreaking Platform, which
campaigns to end environmentally harmful practices at ship breaking yards in
South Asia, has called on India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh to halt the import of
the fire damaged, ship Hansa Brandenburg.
The container ship caught fire in July and was later towed
to Port-Louis in Mauritius.
According to the organisation it is suspected that the
German owner of the Leonhardt & Blumberg group, which it presumes to be
toxic, has sold the Hansa Brandenburg for breaking in South Asia, most likely
to India.
The NGO explained that the Mauritian authorities dealing
with hazardous waste confirmed that the ship is still in Port-Louis, but could
soon leave as Mauritius refused to deal with the burnt containers and cargo
which, it claimed are likely to contain a substantial amount of hazardous
materials such as heavy metals or PCBs.
Moreover, Shipbreaking Platform said that the vessel is
suspected of carrying dangerous substances in the water used to fight the fire
as well as a significant amount of fuels and oil, and that it is therefore
concerned that the Hansa Brandenburg, which was not cleaned since the fire, is
contaminated with hazardous substances.
Last year, another German-owned container ship, the MSC
Flaminia, caught fire and was severely damaged. According to Shipbreaking
Platform, the owner of the ship had to clean it in a German port and then send
it for repair within the EU.
The NGO called on Leonhardt & Blumberg to make sure that
toxic residues left by the fire as well as the hazardous substances in the
structure of the ship are handled by a facility which is adequately equipped
for the task.
The costs for such an operation must be paid by those
responsible, not by the workers and the environment on a beach, the
organisation asserted.
“If the ‘Hansa Brandenburg’ is sent to India, this would be
another typical case of bad practice where a wealthy shipping company rids
itself of its environmental and social responsibility by dumping waste in a
substandard yard in South Asia – just because it is more profitable,” said
Patrizia Heidegger, executive director of Shipbreaking Platform.
Flying the flag
Shipbreaking Platform claimed that the Hamburg based owner,
Leonhardt & Blumberg is already known for its malpractice in dumping old
ships in substandard facilities in India.
In 2012, the organisation said that the Hansa India was
beached in Alang, India, followed in 2013 by the Hansa Trondheim, the Hansa
Stavanger, the Hansa Pacific and the Hansa Atlantic.
This year the NGO noted that Leonhardt & Blumberg
changed the flags of all its beached end-of-life vessels to Sierra Leone or
Comoros before beaching – a typical sign that the owner used a cash buyer as a
middleman and seeks to avoid any legal responsibility.
With about 4000 merchant ships, Germany owns the world’s
biggest commercial shipping fleet.
However, according to Shipbreaking Platform, it is also one
of the worst dumpers of toxic ships: in 2012, 58 German-owned ships were
beached in South Asia, and another 34 have already been sent between January
and June 2013. Last year, 365 end-of-life ships owned by European companies
were dumped in South Asia.
Leonhardt & Blumberg is claimed to have promised the
German Government that at least part of its fleet would again fly the German
flag in return for tax incentives under the tonnage tax system.
However, according to Shipbreaking Platform, currently only
one of the company’s ships flies a German flag. Reflagging to flags of
convenience allows shipowners to circumvent stricter European laws, for
instance with regards to workers’ rights or environmental protection.
Under the new European Regulation on Ship Recycling, which
will enter into force early in 2014, ships flying the flag of an EU Member
State can only be dismantled in a ship recycling facility approved by the
European Commission in order to ensure workers’ safety and environmentally
sound management of hazardous wastes.
The NGO concluded that if Leonhardt & Blumberg continue
to re-flag their vessels to Sierra Leone or the Comoros before scrapping, they
will deliberately avoid the new regulation.
Source: waste management world.
By Ben Messenger. 3 October 2013
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