Concern that floating offshore vessels operating in the North Sea may end their life on the beaches of Southeast Asia is prompting debate within the European Union (EU) on how to police the decommissioning of the fleet and promote a local recycling industry.

The demolition of fixed drilling structures operating in the North Sea is under the strict regulation of OSPAR, a group of 15 east North Atlantic and EU countries established to protect the marine environment.

But that is not the case for floating structures such as drillships and floating production storage and offloading units (FPSOs).

Such “vessels” have an International Maritime Organization number and as such are regarded as ships and fall outside the OSPAR regulation.

While the European regulation on the export of waste and the Basel agreement should ensure that offshore vessels are demolished at approved recycling yards, often in Europe, it appears owners are finding it easy to skirt the regulation.

Ingvild Jenssen, head of NGO Shipbreaking Platform, an environmental lobby group promoting safe and environmental recycling, says there are many cases in shipping that demonstrate how European-based owners are able to demolish in Southeast Asia.

She is concerned that the same thing may happen in the offshore sector and suggests that one recent case shows the industry’s vulnerability.

Last year, the FPSO North Sea Producer, a ship originally owned by Maersk, was decommissioned from the North Sea and laid up in Teesport in the North East of England.

It departed last summer, apparently heading to work in Nigeria, however, it sailed straight to the scrapping beaches of Bangladesh.

Earlier this year, the 7,500-dwt GSP Falcon, a deepsea construction and pipe-laying vessel operating in the North Sea, should have been demolished under waste-export regulations in Europe but was sold to cash buyer Best Oasis and later scrapped in India.

There are other ongoing examples in shipping of vessels avoiding waste-export regulations.

The 32,282-gt Eide Carrier (built 1989) left Norway, apparently heading for repair. But when it suffered engine failure and had to be salvaged, Norwegian authorities found evidence suggesting it had been sold to cash buyer Wirana and was heading for scrap in Southeast Asia.

The vessel had changed name to Tide Carrier and switched register to the St Kitts and Nevis flag, a well-known ship register for final-voyage vessels.

The ship is being detained in Norway while police investigate a possible breach of waste-export regulations. It has changed name and flag again and is now called Harrier and registered in Palau.

Last week, members of the European Commission and European Parliament held a conference to look at what legislative action might be required to ensure that the floating offshore fleet is decommissioned in the same way as the fixed offshore fleet.

It followed an earlier debate at the European Economic and Social Committee held with the support of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform.

That looked at the issue and the need to promote recycling within the EU to meet the demand for demolishing the North Sea floating offshore fleet.

Europe is not the only place the demolition of vessels by offshore development companies is stirring controversy.

In Brazil, the shipbreaking practices of Transporto, the transportation arm of Petrobras, have come under criticism from local maritime trade unions CONTTMAF and SINDMAR.

As in Europe, criticism has come along with a call for the development of a local shipbreaking industry to help demolish the Brazilian offshore and tanker fleet.

Carlos Muller, a director at both CONTTMAF and SINDMAR, said: “To ensure clean and safe ship recycling off the beach, we demand stricter requirements for the public auctions of Petrobras’ end-of-life vessels and the enforcement of international legislation on hazardous waste exports. The vessels could even be recycled in Brazil."

Transporto has sent 20 offshore vessels for demolition in India and Pakistan in the past five years.

NGO Shipbreaking Platform has also written to the Brazilian authorities informing them that Petrobras has sold two vessels — the 44,000-dwt tanker Lobato (built 1993) and 6,200-cbm Guapore (built 1982) — for demolition in India, in breach of the Basel Convention.