Altera Infrastructure has hit back at a NOK 8m ($747,000) fine imposed by the Norwegian police for scrapping two shuttle tankers at India’s Alang beaches.
Okokrim, Norway’s National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime, had probed the sale and export of the 124,200-dwt Navion Britannia and 126,955-dwt Alecita Spirit (both built 1998) in 2018.
It claimed they were scrapped in breach of the European waste disposal directive.
Okokrim prosecutor Maria Bache Dahl confirmed the case will now go to court for trial.
In a statement to TradeWinds, Altera said: “The fine was imposed on the basis that Okokrim considered the ships to be ‘waste’ after service on the Norwegian continental shelf, and that it was, therefore, a violation not to obtain the consent of the Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA) prior to export.
“We do not agree with Okokrim’s assessment and Altera admits no guilt to the charges made.
“No application for consent to export was submitted to the NEA as the ships were not waste, nor considered to be waste when leaving Norway.
“As such Altera has concluded that we cannot in any good faith accept the fine because we have not broken the law. To accept a fine where we have done nothing wrong would run contrary to our values.”
The shipowner reiterated its statement from last week that when the ships left Norwegian waters the company did not consider them waste at the time.
It claims they were in “excellent condition” and had been working on ways to redeploy them in Asia or Australia or convert them to floating storage units for specific customers.
Beaching
Also at the core of the dispute is the decision to send the two 20-year-old vessels to the beaches in Alang.
Beaching remains a controversial scrapping method due to the perceived environmental and safety risks.
The Navion Britannia was recycled at RL Kalthia Ship Breaking in Alang, approved under the Hong Kong Convention.
However, it is not included in the European list of approved yards linked to the bloc’s recycling directive. No Asian yards are included in the list.
“Recent media releases by Okokrim have linked this case to generic industry recycling or ‘scrapping’ actives in Asia,” Altera wrote.
“Whilst we are not aware of any investigations or enquiries by Okokrim into the manner of any of Altera’s recycling processes, we confirm that we are proud of the role the Altera Infrastructure Group has played in improving the industry’s recycling practices and our transparent approach to all that we do in this area.”
It said it is an active signatory to the Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative, an organisation it joined in 2019, when the company was known as Teekay Offshore, and prior to the Okokrim raid of its offices as part of its investigation into the export of the Navion Britannia and Alecita Spirit.
Altera has since scrapped other vessels, sending them to Turkey and India.
While the controversy regarding the Okokrim case is centred on the accusation that the two shuttle tankers were exported out of Norway in contravention of the European waste directive, Altera said it does adhere to internationally recognised standards when a vessel is recycled.
The terms of the IMO Hong Kong Convention are a basic requirement, it said, and the yard choice is based on what Altera believes it is legally permitted to use.
It also said yard choice is on a case-by-case basis after the company has vetted and approved facilities following in-person inspections.
“We continuously monitor health, safety and environmental standards until the last piece of steel is processed and we work with our selected yards to help further strengthen safety and operational practices,” Altera said, adding that this was also the case with the two shuttle tankers.
“Altera does not admit any guilt to the charges made. This fine is rejected and Altera is prepared to defend the case in court both with regard to the points of law and the facts of the case.”
