NGO Shipbreaking Platform is hoping to bring more personal injury cases against shipowners to UK courts within the next year after helping win compensation for a Bangladeshi shipbreaking worker against Zodiac Maritime.

A spokesperson said that the Brussels-based lobby group is reviewing a number of similar potential cases involving South Asian yard workers injured while demolishing ships for Western shipowners.

The move follows a confidential out-of-court settlement won by Mohamed Edris earlier this year for injuries he sustained while demolishing the 915-teu containership Eurus London (built 1992) in April 2015.

The case was brought to London-based human rights lawyer Leigh Day, which handled the case, by NGO Shipbreaking Platform.

In its annual report, NGO Shipbreaking Platform says: “This case has allowed a shipbreaking worker to access justice in an unprecedented way and indicates the opportunities that may exist for other claims to be brought against shipping companies in the future.”

As a guide to how many potential cases there are the NGO Shipbreaking Platform estimates that in 2017 at least 15 people died and 22 were severely injured in Bangladesh alone.

However, while Edris was able to win an undisclosed compensation from Zodiac, legal experts say such cases face a number of hurdles.

One is the potentially huge legal fees generated by bringing litigation to the UK, which requires one party to bear the cost on behalf of the claimant.

The other problem of whether a shipowner’s duty of care extends to overseas shipbreaking yards long after the vessel has been sold for demolition has yet to be tested in the UK courts.

A claimant’s best hope might be for an early out-of-court settlement from an owner that is seeking to avoid negative publicity from bringing a case to court in the UK.

In a separate development, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform’s accounts for 2017 reveal that it secured more than half of its funding from the European Commission.

Out of a total income of €294,000 ($346,000) some €163,000 came from the European Commission LIFE Programme, which financially supports environmental and climate action projects.

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform has long recommended the European List of approved shipbreaking yards, drawn up by the EC as part of its Ship Recycling Regulation (SRR), as the best way for shipowner’s to recycle ships.

However, a spokesperson for NGO Shipbreaking Platform insisted its stance on SRR had not been swayed by the source of its funding. She pointed out the NGO Shipbreaking Platform’s own constitution did not allow it to be influenced by its funding sources. The EC LIFE Programme also operates independently from the EC, she said.

She added that while the NGO Shipbreaking Platform broadly supports the SRR it had been outspoken against certain aspects for the regulation.