An investigation by a UK-based group has warned that Bangladesh is among the leading countries whose beach yards are being used to scrap toxic ships.
Finance Uncovered found that dozens of vessels were abandoned on the beach yards in Chattogram with no effective management of poisonous carcinogens such as asbestos, arsenic and mercury on board ships.
“A new regulation was added in January 2019 so that it is now also illegal for any ship carrying a European flag ship to be sent to the South Asian beaches. But for ship owners, the financial incentives to send vessels there remain huge,” the investigative agency notes.
“A beaching yard can pay up to $10m for an oil tanker, whereas shipowners may have to pay for it to be dismantled in a safe, clean facility approved by the European Union (EU). To avoid the new flag-based rules, the ship owner can buy the services of Skanreg,” it notes.
The investigation found that a UK company which acts as a formal outpost for a tiny Caribbean tax haven is among those facilitating such a practise of non-environmentally friendly sip-breaking.
St. Christopher and Nevis International Ship Registry Ltd, based in the east London suburb of Romford, is the official seller of such shipping flags for the twin islands of St. Kitts and Nevis. Skanreg has been cashing in on the demand from ship owners who want to scrap vessels in countries like Bangladesh, by charging them lucrative fees for ship registration with St. Kitts and Nevis.
“That is a commercial matter for the parties involved in that transaction,” said Skanreg founder and part-owner Nigel Smith.
Workers in Bangladesh are given little or no protection when they rush to break up the rusting vessels that arrive, posing serious health hazards.
EU rules have banned ships from being exported from European ports to South Asia since 2006.
Britain’s Opposition Labour Party called on the UK government to take firm action over the issue.
“It’s imperative that the government address this global market failure… of the impact of this loophole whereby the ship breaking industry can flout poorly enforced international regulations to extract maximum profit from shipping assets at the expense of some of the world’s most vulnerable workers, including children,” said Labour’s shadow transport secretary any McDonald.