German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd has changed its policy on the sale of old vessels. Its "old ladies" will now be sent to specialized docks for scrapping instead of trading them in the global marketplace.
Hapag-Lloyd said
Monday it would no longer sell phased-out cargo vessels on global markets where
the company once enjoyed high returns on older freighters still in good
condition.
The decision goes
against an emerging trend in the industry of sending old ships to scrapping
docks in India, Bangladesh or Pakistan in order to make a quick buck on the
price of scrap metal.
But the company
told Germany's dpa news agency that it had ethical qualms about laborers in
those countries facing adverse working conditions.
Many are not at all
protected against the tons of poisonous materials, such as asbestos and the
chemical PCB, commonly found in large ships.
Applause
from campaigners
One organization
that has led the campaign against dangerous pollution and unsafe conditions
that result from end-of-life ships with toxic-laden structures being freely
traded in the marketplace is the Shipbreaking Platform, a non-governmental
coalition of environmental, human rights and labor representatives.
"We explicitly
welcome Hapag-Lloyd's move and hope that other ship owners will follow
suit," the platform's chief, Patrizia Heidegger, said in a statement.
Last year alone,
655 big vessels were scrapped in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, where a single
ton of scrap metal could fetch up to $470 (351 euros).
Rampant child labor
in the docks and frequent lethal work accidents, however, have blighted the
business.
Source: DW. 11 August
2014
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