RE: Atlantic Cartier heads for Alang despite NGO alert (TradeWinds, 4 August 2017)

Dear Sir,

It is stated in the above article that the NGO Shipbreaking Platform “concedes that ‘technically’ [the Hansa Bremen and Hansa Lubeck] are not subject to Basel or EU waste laws”. This statement is not correct.

Once the intention of disposal has been made, any ship will become waste and will fall under waste laws. Moreover, if a ship leaves from the European Union (EU) to a non-OECD country to be demolished, it is in breach of international and EU waste laws, regardless of its flag.

The fact that Swedish company Holy House Shipping chose not to have its ships registered under an EU flag is not relevant to determine a breach of the Basel Convention or EU Waste Shipment Regulation.

The fact that these ships were not flying an EU flag is only relevant for the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, which puts recycling requirements only on EU-flag vessels, but this regulation is not applicable yet.

The Basel Convention and the EU Waste Shipment Regulation are circumvented by shipowners who falsely declare that the ship is in continued operational use when leaving a port, thereby concealing the fact that the ship is destined for scrapping and has therefore become a waste.

On the other hand, circumvention of laws based on flag-state jurisdiction, such as the EU Ship Recycling Regulation and Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, is done by flagging out to a non-EU state or a non-party.

To ensure proper implementation of the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, only a financial incentive that covers all ships trading in the EU and is based on port-state-control — for instance in the form of a Ship Recycling Licence — will be effective.

Such an incentive would be able to offset the financial gain of selling to cash buyers and substandard shipbreaking yards, and will ensure the proper recycling of EU-trading ships regardless of their flags.

be able to offset the financial gain of selling to cash buyers and substandard shipbreaking yards, and will ensure the proper recycling of EU-trading ships regardless of their flags.

Yours faithfully,

Francesca Carlsson, 

Corporate liaison and policy officer, 

NGO Shipbreaking Platform