issue 16th-31st-July-17

16th - 31st July 2017 THE MODERN WORLD SEAFARERS 21
210 Ships Sold for Scrap during Second Quarter of 2017
There were a total of 210 ships broken in the second quarter of 2017. 158 of these ships ended
up on South Asian beaches for dirty and dangerous breaking.
The worst dumping country this quarter was Germany with 16 beached ships, a consequence of
the multiple bankruptcies due to the toxic financing that has been characteristic of the German
shipping industry. In June, German public television channel ARD documented the appalling
conditions under which German ships are broken in Bangladesh. The other leading dumping
nations were Singapore with 12 ships, Greece with 9, and South Korea with 8. Though 45 out of
the 158 beached vessels this quarter were European-controlled, only four of these had
a European flag.
Legislation at the international and European level to regulate the disposal of ships is based on
flag state jurisdiction. The flags of the worst dumping countries were however rarely or not used
at end-of-life. Flags of convenience, in particular the grey- and black-listed ones under the Paris
MOU, are used by cash buyers and ship owners to send ships to the worst breaking locations.
Nearly a third (49) of all the ships sent to South Asia this quarter changed flag to typical
end-of-life registries only weeks before hitting the beaches: St Kitts & Nevis, Comoros, Palau,
Djibouti, Niue and Togo. These flags are not typically used during the operational life of ships and
offer 'last voyage registration' discounts. They are grey and black-listed due to their poor
implementation of international maritime law.
There were five cases where the ships in question were sent to South Asia in breach of the EU
Waste Shipment Regulation. In Bangladesh, the Platform was successful in taking legal action to
halt the breaking of the FPSO North Sea Producer which was illegally exported from the UK
in 2016.
The worst company was the Singaporean Continental Shipping Line that had six Liberian-flagged
vessels that all changed flag to St Kitts & Nevis or Comoros and were beached in South Asia.
Quantum Pacific is a close runner-up on second place for worst dumping practices, with four
ships sold to Pakistan and Bangladesh. Quantum, owned by Idan Ofer, son of the late shipping
mogul Sammy Ofer. The worst dumper of 2016 was UK-based Zodiac Maritime, run by Idan's
brother, Eyal Ofer.