No immediate end in sight to Bangladesh scrapping standoff
Stalemate between authories and shipbreakers continue amid calls for industry to be phased out of the country
A PROMINENT Bangladeshi politician has told Lloyd’s List that there was little immediate prospect of solving the impasse between authorities and the country’s shipbreakers that has effectively brought the scrapping industry to a standstill.
Bangladesh is, furthermore, tired of being the world’s dumping yard for environmentally hazardous material, said Saber Hossain Chowdhury, a member of parliament for the ruling Awami League, member of the parliamentary standing committee on environment, and chair of the all-party group on climate change and environment.
His comments came amid calls for shipbreaking to be “phased out” of Bangladesh by prominent lawyer and chief executive of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers’ Association, Rizwana Hasan.
Owners of breaking yards operating on the Chittagong coastline recycle more ships than any other country in the world, scrapping 10.5m dwt last year. They have protested against a Supreme Court rulingthat imposes more stringent environmental requirements. The court ruled that all ships entering Bangladeshi waters for breaking need to be pre-cleaned by the selling party or the importer before doing so, as mandated by the Basel Convention.
The March 2009 ruling stipulated that the government must frame new rules to regulate the shipbreaking industry. In response, the country’s Department of the Environment demanded that ‘no objection’ certificates be in place for ships coming to Bangladesh for breaking.
This made the shipbreakers react sharply, successfully lobbying the Department of Commerce to derive a less onerous version that permitted ships to come to the country if they could show that, other than “in-built items”, they were free of pollutants.
But Mr Chowdhury said that many of the so-called inbuilt parts of a ship can be the most toxic, citing air-conditioning units that can contain asbestos.
Last month, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court backed the original requirements, firmly stating that shipbreakers must obtain environmental clearance certificates.
Mr Chowdhury said foreign shipowners would no longer be able to exploit loopholes. He said that owners avoiding paying for pre-cleaning costs could stand to save between $200,000 and $300,000 per ship.
“We are not saying that shipbreaking is not welcome but they [breakers and owners] will have to meet international standards and national laws and regulations,” he said.
Ms Hasan said stricter regulations were necessary to ensure documentation was traceable and reliable, unlike some breakers whom she accuses of using fake certifications from organisations of dubious stature, such as flag states based in Tuvalu and other enclaves.
“The only solution is to phase out the business out of Bangladesh,” she said.
Despite the disruption to recycling industry this year, Bangladesh still tops the scrapping list for 2010 after buying 3.6m dwt so far this year, compared to India’s 3.3m dwt, according to Clarksons data.
A PROMINENT Bangladeshi politician has told Lloyd’s List that there was little immediate prospect of solving the impasse between authorities and the country’s shipbreakers that has effectively brought the scrapping industry to a standstill.
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