From a total of 206 ships, which were broken in the first quarter of 2018, 152 ships were sold to the beaches of South Asia for breaking, according to NGO Shipbreaking Platform.
South Korean and UAE ship owners have sold the most ships to South Asian yards during the first quarter of 2018 with 14 beached vessels each, followed by Greek and Russian owners. Shipping companies from the United States beached 5 vessels.
NGO Shipbreaking Platform informed that South Korean Sinokor is, for now, “the worst corporate dumper” with seven vessels beached in South Asia in 2018. Followed by South Korean H-Line Shipping with five ships sold for scrapping on the beach.
Only 3 ships had a European flag – Belgium, Italy and Norway – when they arrived on the beach. All ships sold to the beaching yards pass via the hands of scrap-dealers, that often re-register and re-flag the vessel on its last voyage.
Almost half of the ships sold to South Asia this quarter changed flag to the grey- and black-listed registries of Comoros, Niue, Palau and St. Kitts and Nevis just weeks before hitting the beach.
Furthermore, so far this year, 10 workers have lost their lives and 2 workers have been severely injured when breaking ships in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Another two workers were reported dead after an accident at a shipbreaking yard in Alang, India.
NGO Shipbreaking Platform said that ship owners “continue to sell their ships to the beaching yards despite the well documented deplorable conditions.”