AP Moller-Maersk has said it is confident it has complied with European Union scrapping regulations as Denmark launches an investigation.
Danish environment minister Lea Wermelin told a parliamentary foreign affairs committee that the Danish Environmental Protection Agency is looking into the recycling of three Maersk vessels on beaches at Alang in India.
The three ships have not been named.
Wermelin said they are the most recent examples of ships that the company has sent for scrapping at Alang.
The European Union has not approved the ship-breakers for European vessel recycling.
The committee questioned Wermelin on why the EU does not approve the yards when Maersk views them as compliant.
"I have had meetings with Danish shipping companies, where we have, among other things, discussed ship dismantling, and I am well aware that Danish shipping companies have provided their own figures on how to look at capacity in Europe and the conditions in Alang," Wermelin told the committee.
"What we need to stand for is, of course, to accept the input that comes, but also to stand on the common framework we have, where the EU Commission has been out to visit these facilities on several occasions and assessed that they do not live up to the requirements."
Maersk told TradeWinds that it had not received any formal notice or communication from the Danish authorities.
The Copenhagen-listed containership giant said it remains open to "collaborate" with them.
'In compliance'
"We are confident that AP Moller-Maersk is in full compliance with all applicable legislation — EU and others — with regards to ship recycling," the company added.
"We are fully committed to responsible ship recycling, not least in Alang, India, where our local engagement has made a very concrete positive change. We believe that the quality of the best yards in Alang are today utterly compatible with yards approved by EU."
Maersk had said earlier this year that work was taking place at two shipyards that complied with its own internal standards.
