Two Korean shipping firms were world's worst shipbreaking dumpers in 2020: NGO

Shipbreaking Platform revealed June 22, 2020, that, during an illegal night shift at Jumuna Ship Breakers yard in Bangladesh, Abdul Halim, 24, was hit by an iron bar in the stomach and seriously injured aboard the Stellar Knight owned by Polaris Shipping. Courtesy of Shipbreaking Platform's Twitter

By Ko Dong-hwan

Two South Korean shipping companies have won the dubious distinction of being named the world's worst shipbreaking dumpers in 2020, as they breached global safety standards causing injuries and even the deaths of workers in developing countries in South Asia as they dismantled toxic end-of-life ships on beaches instead of safer shipbreaking yards, a non-government organization revealed Feb. 2.

The export of end-of-life ships from developed to developing countries are banned by the United Nation Environment Programme's Basel Convention that was signed in 1989 and became effective in 1992.

Polaris Shipping was dubbed "the worst corporate dumper" in the world because of a series of accidents involving laborers in Bangladesh and Pakistan which occurred while they were breaking apart the company's 11 carriers, according to Brussels-based Shipbreaking Platform. The accidents include four major ones onboard the Stellar Knight, Stellar Iris, Stellar Journey and Stellar Hermes, which were all beached in Chattogram, Bangladesh.

One person was killed in December when hit by a large iron bar while breaking up the Stellar Hermes at Kabir Steel's Khawja shipbreaking yard. Three others were injured after being hit by pieces of iron or falling.

A middleman scrap-dealer called GMS was linked to sales of several Polaris vessels for demolition, the NGO said citing the shipping media platform Splash247.

Two men also died in March due to toxic gas inhalation while working in the engine room of West Energy, a tanker from the Korean company Sinokor, at Kabir Steel's Khawja yard. Two other men also fell sick from the same accident. Sinokor sold four vessels to illegal ship breakers in 2020.

Polaris Shipping's Stellar Knight is beached at Jumuna Ship Breakers yard in Chattogram, Bangladesh, in June 2020. Courtesy of Shipbreaking Platform's Twitter

The NGO also revealed that Brazilian state oil company Petrobras dumped nine old tankers on South Asian beaches last year ― even though civil organizations and trade unions have been urging the Brazilian government to stop such dumping for the past three years. The Brazilian tankers were part of more than half of the oil and gas units scrapped last year that ended up on beaches in South Asia, including units owned by Noble Corporation, Tidewater and Valaris. Petrobras was last year's top dumper.

Other shipping companies the NGO reported for having sold their ships for illegal shipbreaking on South Asian beaches in 2020 include Berge Bulk, Costamare, Eurobulk, Evergreen, K-Line, Maersk, Swire & Sons, and Teekay. Greece dumped the most ships in the world, selling 48 for scrap, most of which were beached in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Out of 630 commercial ships and offshore units sold to scrap yards in 2020, 446 large tankers, bulk carriers, floating platforms, and cargo and passenger ships were broken down on beaches in South Asia ― those in Gadani on the south coast of Pakistan, Chattogram on the southeast coast of Bangladesh, and Alang on the west coast of India. Those ships account for nearly 90 percent of the gross tonnage dismantled globally.

Ships are considered hazardous waste under international environmental laws, because they contain many toxic materials and substances within their structures and onboard. The toxins include cadmium, lead batteries, asbestos, mercury, residue oils, residues of burnt coals and crude oil also known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and ozone depleting substances, which all need to be managed safely.

Eight workers were killed and 13 injured when Agate, which had gas and oil residues, exploded while being dismantled by cutters in Chittagong, Bangladesh, in December 2009. theecologist.org

Executive Director and Founder of Shipbreaking Platform, Ingvild Jenssen, said it was "scandalous" that laws and standards aimed at protecting people and the environment are ignored when scrapping the near totality of the global fleet.

"Governments, clients, financiers and insurers of shipping, as well as employees of shipping, need to take a stronger stance against this exploitation of vulnerable communities and fragile ecosystems," said Jenssen.

About 90 percent of expired ships were scrapped on the three South Asian beaches in 2020. There, exploited migrants and children are often exposed to the risk of getting injured by fire or falling steel plates and exposure to toxic fumes and substances. Coastal biomes and the local communities depending on them were affected by toxic spills and air pollution due to a lack of infrastructure to contain, properly manage and dispose of the hazardous materials from the ships.

The NGO said at least 10 workers died and another 14 severely injured while breaking apart vessels in Bangladesh in 2020.

The NGO also revealed that much of the illegal shipbreaking has been done under the radar. The group repeatedly attempted to obtain official statistics on accidents at the Indian and Pakistani shipbreaking yards but no information has been made available. The group suspects that many accidents go unreported.

Local officers of India's Gujarat Maritime Board, which controls ports in Alang, put BBC reporters in detention and confiscated footage from France 2 journalists. The NGO said it proves how the illegal shipbreaking industry seeks to thwart public scrutiny of the deplorable conditions at the yards.

Workers drag steel plates ashore from a beached ship in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Wikipedia

Escaping scrutiny

Although there are environmental and labor laws regulating ship recycling, ship owners easily circumvent them with illegal tactics, the NGO revealed.

Middleman ship buyers, known as "cash buyers," pay the highest price for end-of-life vessels and re-name, re-register and re-flag the vessels on their last voyage to the beaching yards. Almost half the ships sold to South Asia in 2020 changed their flags to a blacklisted one ― Comoros, Palau, and Saint Kitts and Nevis ― weeks before hitting the beach.

At least 14 of these flag changes enabled ship owners to circumvent the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, according to the NGO.

"Whilst European shipping companies own 40 percent of the world fleet, only 5 percent of end-of-life ships were registered under the flags of the EU or the European Free Trade Association in 2020," Jenssen said. "Flags (of countries) known for their poor implementation of maritime law have always been particularly popular at (ships') end-of-life. Ship owners hiding behind anonymous post box companies set up by cash buyers and backed by blacklisted flag registries is a reality that requires enforcement of measures that effectively hold the real beneficial owners of the vessels responsible."