Brussels, 27 August 2014
– The NGO Shipbreaking Platform, a global coalition of organisations seeking to
prevent dirty and dangerous shipbreaking practices worldwide, applauds
Hamburg-based Hapag-Lloyd for having adopted a new, progressive ship recycling
policy: Germany’s leading shipping company will now only seek "sustainable
solutions for green ship recycling" [1].
"While previously
our second-hand ships were used for a longer time by their new owners after we
had sold them, we recently had to realize that buyers had passed on the ships
more and more rapidly for demolition, in particular to ship breakers who use
the beaching method. As this method of shipbreaking does not fulfill
Hapag-Lloyd’s strict criteria for workers’ safety and environmental protection,
we ourselves will in the future monitor and supervise the professional
recycling of ships in a certified facility following the requirements of the
Hong Kong Convention", says a Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson.
The Platform welcomes
this progressive policy change and strongly encourages other ship owners to
follow Hapag-Lloyd’s example and only use modern ship recycling facilities.
Already, Hapag-Lloyd has decided to sell the «New Orleans Express» to a ship
recycling facility in China, where the shipping company will be monitoring the
recycling process. The Platform has had a constructive dialogue with
Hapag-Lloyd over several months and provided expertise on the issue.
"We hope that
Hapag-Lloyd will be an inspiring example for more German ship owners and other
leading companies in the maritime industry in Europe and beyond," says
Patrizia Heidegger, Executive Director of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform.
"Fortunately, more and more ship owners are realizing that they do not
have to sell their old ships on a shady ‘second-hand market’, where they will
end up in a polluting and dangerous beach breaking yard. As Hapag-Lloyd demonstrates,
feasible and financially viable solutions that are clean, safe and fair
exist."
Last February, the
Platform joined a demonstration in front of the German ship owners association
offices in Hamburg, calling for an industry-wide "off the beach" standard
for the recycling of obsolete ships [2]. A record high 80 percent of all
German-owned end-of-life vessels were broken on South Asia beaches last year
[3].
"It is shameful for
the German ship owning community that so few of them care about clean and safe
ship recycling," says Patrizia Heidegger. "It is completely
unacceptable that leading companies allow to make profits by ignoring the
severe pollution caused by shipbreaking and the accidents that maim or kill
workers on the beaches of South Asia. We have been able to clearly link fatal
accidents in the shipbreaking industry in South Asia to leading ship owners,
amongst them German owner Johann M.K. Blumenthal. It is high time for the
German ship owners to face their responsibility and put in place ship recycling
policies that will ensure clean and safe practices. There are no excuses –
neither the use of flags of convenience nor complex financing structures in
shipping free ship owners from their responsibility to make sure their business
does not cause harm."
The European Commission
will publish a list of audited ship recycling facilities next year. Facilities
worldwide will only be listed by the European Commission if they comply with
European standards of environmental protection and worker's health and safety,
and are in line with the requirements of the Hong Kong Convention, an
international regulation on ship recycling not yet in force. Ship owners
anywhere in the world will be able to use this list to make a responsible
choice for the disposal of their end-of-life ships.
"The European
Commission’s list will put an end to a confusing situation where everybody can
claim to provide ‘green’ ship recycling. Actually, the Commission is providing
ship owners with a service – their selection of compliant facilities will make
it easier for ship owners to opt for clean and safe facilities where the risk
of pollution and accidents is reduced," says Heidegger. "Real
investments in order to set up modern ship recycling facilities off the beach
in developing countries such as India or Bangladesh will only become
economically interesting when more ship owners follow the example of
Hapag-Lloyd and set aside part of their profit in return for clean and safe
recycling that does not exploit the environment and workers of developing
countries."
CONTACT
Patrizia Heidegger
Executive Director
NGO Shipbreaking
Platform
+32 2 6094 419
No comments:
Post a Comment