239 End-of-life Ships Sold for Breaking in 1Q

According to the NGO Shipbreaking Platform 239 end-of-life ships were sold for breaking in the first quarter of 2016. Seventy-nine per cent of end-of-life ships ended up on South Asian beaches, making this quarter one of the worst ones in the last years for non-beaching yards around the world.

Out of 189 vessels that reached the shores of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, 127 were bulk carriers. As opposed to 2015 trends, India has again become the favorite final destination.

                    

                                             Ship breaking world wide

68 ships sold to South Asia in the first quarter of 2016 were owned by EU owners. Greek owners topped the list with 40 ships sold to South Asian breakers. German owners followed with 16 ships. Also Chinese, South Korean and Monaco owners rank high on the list – all selling several vessels to Bangladesh where conditions are known to be the worst when comparing all three South Asian shipbreaking countries.

Monaco Zodiac Group, and Germans Konig & Cie GmbH & Company KG and Rickmers Reederei GmbH & Cie KG top the list of worst dumpers this quarter. These companies have previously been criticised by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform for their substandard end-of-life management.

Whilst grey- and black listed flags, such as Comoros and St Kitts and Nevis, continue to be particularly popular for endof-life ships, also ships registered under the flags of Cyprus and Malta ended up on the South Asian beaches. A new EU Regulation on ship recycling will prohibit the dismantling of EU-flagged ships in substandard yards.

However, by simply flagging out to a non-EU flag before selling the ship for scrap, ship owners can easily circumvent the EU laws. 35 ships, including two Greek flagged ships, one Belgian flagged ship and one Malta flagged ship, changed their flag just weeks before hitting the beach.