Denmark’s Environmental Minister has come
under fire for failing to provide concrete answers to questions regarding the
Danish government’s position on shipbreaking in South Asia amid Maersk’s
controversial decision to send end-of-life ships to approved yards in Alang,
India for recycling.
The Danish Environment Minister, Esben Lunde
Larsen, was in Brussels Wednesday to answer questions before Parliament from
opposition parties who are calling on the Government to ensure that Maersk’s
end-of-life vessels cannot be broken down in beaching yards.
But according to the NGO Shipbreaking
Platform, instead of answering the questions directly however, Minister Larsen
simply read prepared answers and paraphrased the Hong Kong Convention, quoting
technical details and the obligation to follow the law.
“The MPs present… incessantly pressed the
Minister to answer concrete and direct questions on the Danish government’s
position on beaching, Maersk’s threat to flag out, and whether the government
is pressing the EU Commission to list beaching yards in Alang on the upcoming
EU list of accepted facilities world-wide,” the NGO Shipbreaking Platform said
in a statement slamming the Minister.
“To all the questions and comments, the
Minister however repeatedly appealed to his ignorance about the shipbreaking
industry and to the literal text of the EU guidelines under the Ship Recycling
Regulation,” the group said.
The questions come after investigative
journalists last month published a scathing piece in the daily newspaper
Politiken revealing safety and workers’ rights violations at the Shree Ram yard
in Alang where Maersk sent two ships to be dismantled earlier this year. Maersk
came under even more fire when after a former Maersk oil vessel, North Sea
Producer, ended up on an unapproved beach in Bangladesh, unbeknownst to the
company.
Earlier this year Maersk Line, the world’s
largest container shipping company, said under a new company policy it would
start sending end-of-life ships to certain Hong Kong Convention-compliant
facilities in Alang, India, where the company says it can save $1 to $2 million
per ship. The company sent its first two ships to Alang’s Shree Ram yard in
May.
The move by Maersk has drawn harsh criticism
from environmental and human rights labor groups who argue that the practice of
beaching will never be safe or environmentally-sound. Some also accuse Maersk
of skirting European law by using flags of convenience.
Maersk has always openly defended its
position on Alang, saying its presence and investments there will actually
expedite improvements at yards that are compliant with international standards
for ship recycling.
“It is shocking that the Minister gave no political
comment or direction, but rather only contained a copy-pasted quotation fed to
him by Maersk,” said Ingvild Jenssen, Policy Director of the NGO Shipbreaking
Platform. “It reveals the lack of political backbone when we see that Maersk is
in such a powerful position to issue statements on behalf of the Danish
government and that the Minister seems to believe this is acceptable.”
Source: 15 December 2016
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