Global: The NGO Shipbreaking Platform has
called on Singapore-based vessel owners to stop selling their old ships to
beach-breaking yards in developing countries.
'It is now time for South East Asian ship
owners to join the front-runners of the maritime industry mainly based in
Europe and say ''no'' to a practice that is harming the environment and
people,' the NGO's executive director Patrizia Heidegger told the recent
TradeWinds Ship Recycling Forum held in Singapore.
According to the Platform, shipbreaking
as practised today on the beaches of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan leads to
pollution of coastal ecosystems while exposing workers to danger. In a list
published in February, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform claims that the vast
majority of the 39 Singapore-owned ships sent for dismantling last year were
destined for the South Asian beach-breaking yards: 17 to India, nine to
Bangladesh and five to Pakistan.
The NGO Shipbreaking Platform notes that
the European ship owners to have adopted an anti-beaching stance include Dutch
firm Boskalis, as well as Norwegian companies Grieg Shipping, Wilhelmsen and
Höegh Autoliners.
In North America, Canadian Steamship
Lines will no longer beach any of its ships, and international oil and gas
companies are choosing cleaner and safer recycling for their tankers, the NGO
adds.
Source:
recycling international. 11 March 2014
http://www.recyclinginternational.com/recycling-news/7743/other-news/global/singapore-ship-owners-issued-beaching-plea
No comments:
Post a Comment