European Parliament Committee Votes Against Approving 2 Alang Shipbreaking Yards To Recycle EU Ships

On 4 November, a large majority of the Members of the European Parliament in the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety of the European Parliament (ENVI Committee) voted against the inclusion of two ship-breaking yards in the 16th List of European ship recycling facilities. These two yards, Shree Ram and YSI Recyclers, located in Alang-Sosiya, India, have been preliminarily approved by the European Commission to recycle EU-flagged ships.

Through their objection, MEPs argue that yards using the so-called “beaching method”, i.e. scrapping ships on tidal mudflats, cannot be accepted on the EU List as they do not meet EU standards for environmental and workers’ protection [1]. The ENVI Committee is very clear in its wording: “including a facility that practises the beaching method for the dismantling of end-of-life ships in the European List would be against the intention and the letter of the [Ship Recycling Regulation]”.

At beaching yards, the primary cutting of the ships takes place directly in the intertidal zone, rendering it impossible to control and contain pollution. Environmental monitoring reports from the beaching yards reveal high pollution levels for several toxic substances found on end-of-life vessels, with levels having even increased since 2017 and 2020 for copper, chromium, cadmium and mercury, despite the decline of the number of ships broken in Alang-Sosiya since 2021.

This story was originally published by Marine Insight. Read the full story at Marine Insight →