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. 3 October 2013
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