Several shipping companies are circumventing current restrictions in order to continue transporting end-of-life ships to countries in Southeast Asia where they are dismantled in unsafe conditions.
What there is to know
- Measures have been put in place to prevent the sending of end-of-life ships to poorly equipped developing countries for dismantling, but this practice continues.
- Intermediaries using flags of convenience are often used to change the country to which the vessel is officially attached and circumvent the restrictions in place.
- In the absence of adequate pressure, thousands of workers in Bangladesh are risking their lives for a salary of a few hundred dollars a month.
The practice is denounced in a new report produced by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in collaboration with NGO Shipbreaking Platform which details the stratagems used and the considerable human cost resulting in Bangladesh, where many of the boats concerned end up.
The country has dozens of companies that buy ships intended for scrapping and dismantle them on beaches in an unsuitable environment to then use or resell the metal.
Julia Bleckner, an HRW analyst who participated in the investigation, notes that firms in Bangladesh often offer higher sums than their competitors in other countries to buy back ships and seek, to maintain a profit margin, to limit their labor costs as much as possible.
They cut costs by ignoring basic safety requirements, and workers pay the price.
Julia Bleckner of Human Rights Watch
Transactions are often conducted through intermediaries who formally purchase ships from shipping companies and use flags of convenience to avoid applicable restrictions.
This approach notably allows several European carriers to circumvent a regulation prohibiting the export of waste, including boats at the end of their useful life, to countries which are not members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) .
The stratagem also makes it possible to thwart an amendment to the Basel Convention governing the export of toxic waste. The ships, which may contain asbestos, heavy metals and oil, are sent “for repairs” to a third country that does not comply with the Convention before being declared as “waste” to be dismantled.
The “informed consent” required from the importing country, which should normally receive extensive documentation detailing the problematic materials, can thus be avoided.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Let it go
The requirements contained in a new so-called Hong Kong Convention to ensure the safe dismantling of ships from 2025 can also be easily circumvented, underlines the report.
Several civil society organizations have said its demands are worded too vaguely and will be used by the maritime industry for “greenwashing” purposes without leading to real change.
Although 30% of shipping vessels in 2022 flew the European flag, only 5% of those sent to scrap that year fell into this category, demonstrating, according to the report, the importance of the ongoing efforts to circumvent restrictions.
Mme Bleckner notes that Bangladesh has also adopted various laws that aim to clean up the practices of the dismantling industry, but is slow to enforce them rigorously.
This neglect reflects in particular the influence with the government of companies in the sector, which generate significant economic benefits.
In the absence of appropriate controls, workers dismantling ships continue to operate in extremely risky conditions.
Companies generally do not provide them with basic safety equipment even though they handle heavy metal plates that are often hot after being cut with torches by employees who are often perched high without being properly secured.
As dismantling operations are generally carried out on beaches, access to emergency services in the event of an accident is extremely difficult, which often forces workers to carry their injured colleagues off the sites themselves in order to send them to a health facility.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Little interest
Although the laws in force require them to cover the hospitalization of injured employees and to pay substantial compensation in the event of permanent after-effects, many companies only agree to pay for a few days of care.
The provisions in force regarding minimum wages are often flouted. Torch cutting workers reported in the survey that they earned a little more than half of the expected monthly salary of $250.
Several workers said they do not have a formal contract and are simply told to change jobs if they complain. People who attempt to unionize are systematically fired.
Mme Bleckner notes that Bangladesh’s ship dismantling industry has received far less attention over the years than the country’s textile industry, which came under international scrutiny following the 2013 building collapse in Dhaka. industrial which had caused more than 1000 deaths. It included several tailoring workshops producing clothing from well-known international brands.
“People working on ship dismantling often ask me why there isn’t more interest in their situation. We hope that our investigation will help change things,” notes the researcher.