Have you ever heard about beaching? It is not
a relaxing outdoor sport or a fun internet game. On the contrary, behind this
innocent-sounding word hides one of the harshest and most dangerous jobs in the
world: shipbreaking on beaches in India, Bangladesh or Pakistan, where
regulatory mechanisms are weak, ignoring basic safety rules, where labour force
is cheap and respect for the environment barely non-existent. Unskilled workers
– many of them under 18 – cut up these coffin-like vessels for an estimated 3 €
for a 12 to 16 hour working day. Shipbreaking is the dismantling of end-of-life
ships with the aim of recycling its materials.
EU has a moral responsibility to protect
workers’ rights also outside Europe
“We have to end this dangerous work, which
not only exploits the poorest, but also puts their life in danger on a daily
basis. It is the EU’s moral duty to defend workers’ basic rights abroad too”,
said Martin Siecker, rapporteur of the European Economic and Social Committee
(EESC)’s own-initiative opinion on Shipbreaking and the recycling society,
which was adopted on 19 October at the EESC’s plenary.
EU ship owners control around 40% of the
world’s merchant fleet and account for around one third of the end-of-life
tonnage beached in sub-standard yards in South Asia. Every year around 1,000
large ocean-going vessels are sold for dismantling. Over two thirds of these
end-of-life ships end up on beaches in the above mentioned countries.
Tightening up regulation
through economic instruments
The EESC urges the Commission to come up with
more rigorous legislation that recognizes ship owners’ responsibility and duty
to dispose of their ships in a decent way. The ‘polluter pays principle’ should
also be applied to ship-owners and the EU has a particular responsibility to
eliminate the abuses of irresponsible and inhuman ship dismantling, argues the
EESC, calling for an economic instrument which can guide developments in the
desired direction. “If Europe wants its ships to be scrapped in a responsible
way, it is reasonable that it should ensure that the cost of doing so is
integrated into the operating cost of the vessel”, said Richard Adams,
co-rapporteur of the EESC opinion.
And the impact on ship owners will be modest:
A recent study on a ship recycling licence (SRL) published by the European
Commission shows that adding a mere 0.5 % to the operating costs of smaller
ships and around 2% for larger categories would be enough to change the
behaviour of 42% of ship owners, while a further rate increase or a shortening
of the proposed capital accumulation would raise this percentage to 68%, and in
the long run 97% of ships calling at EU ports would be dismantled in a proper
way.
Several attempts have been made to enforce
ship owner responsibility for coffin ships, but with little or no success, such
as the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)’s Hong Kong International
Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC) and
its International Ship Recycling Trust Fund. In the EU, the search for an
effective solution has been on the agenda for many years. With the EU Ship
Recycling Regulation (EU SRR), which will be applicable at the latest in 2018,
the Commission is setting high standards for ship recycling facilities, but
ship-owners can easily circumvent this regulation by transferring ownership or
simply flagging out of the EU. With the financial instrument proposed by the
EESC, however, ship owners could be prevented from abdicating their responsibility
because if their ships are not dismantled in a facility that is on an EU
approved list they cannot reclaim the money and have to pay a price.
A new industry for maritime
areas
While the majority of ship recycling would
probably still take place in countries with low labour costs, it would at least
then happen under better working and environmental conditions. But sustainable
ship recycling could also be profitable for Europe. Given the scarcity of raw
materials and their high and volatile prices, an industry specializing in
recycling end-of-life ships could generate growth and jobs in particular in
maritime areas and help to reduce the import balance of raw materials.
Source:
Hellenic
shipping news. 27 October 2016
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