Norwegian
financial crimes unit Økokrim has charged the owners of a vessel arrested in
Norway en route to be scrapped in Pakistan.
Økokrim,
the Norwegian financial crimes unit, has filed a preliminary charge against the
owner of the vessel Harrier, formerly Tide Carrier, which was arrested in
Norway in February 2017 on the way to scrapping in Pakistan.
Shipowner
Georg Eide has been charged together with the companies Eide Marine Eiendom and
Eide Marine Services, reports Dagens Næringsliv.
Eide
has been personally charged with contributing to the illegal export of waste,
says police attorney Magnus Engh Juel to the newspaper.
In
2015, the vessel was sold from Eide Marine Group to Julia Shipping, a company
which, according to NGO Shipbreaking Platform, includes a cash buyer. When the
vessel ran aground in Norwegian waters in February last year, Norwegian
environmental authorities carried out an inspection of the vessel and
discovered that it was en route to the Gadani area in Pakistan to be scrapped
on a beaching yard, though the ship did not have the necessary permits in
place.
Økokrim
took over the investigation in December 2017 and has now issued a charge
against the Norwegian shipowner. The vessel departed from Norway last week
after lying idle there since the beginning of the case more than one year ago.
The
case is not the first of its kind in Europe. Earlier this year, the Court of
Rotterdam sentenced a Dutch reefer carrier Seatrade and two of its directors to
pay fines of between EUR 50,000 and EUR 750,000 for illegal transfer of four
vessels from the EU to, at first, India. The vessels were ultimately dismantled
at shipbreaking facilities in India and Bangladesh.
Seatrade
has subsequently appealed the judgement.
"Seatrade
strongly disagrees with the legal interpretation of the Court that a fully
certified, seaworthy vessel should be considered waste and will study the
verdict in detail. As it stands, it is very likely the company will consider
proceeding to the The Hague Court of Appeal," said Seatrade in response to
the decision at the time.
Source: shipping watch. 10 August
2018
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