A DEMONSTRATION has been staged at the headquarters of the German Shipowners Association in Hamburg by those protesting shipbreaking beaches in India and Bangladesh.
"Shipbreaking on beaches in South Asia puts human life and the environment in danger. The City of Hamburg must show its responsibility - both as a location of the maritime industry and as the largest shareholder of Hapag-Lloyd," said Left Party Hamburg Parliament MP Norbert Hackbusch.
"The new EU regulation on ship recycling, which has just entered into force, is toothless in one decisive aspect. By simply flagging out, shipowners can circumvent the regulation," he said. FAXTEXT = "The City of Hamburg should immediately meet with Hapag-Lloyd and work on a sustainable solution for ship recycling," he said.
"Usually, the sale is coordinated by a middleman who sometimes guarantees the shipowner that he will further operate the ship. In fact, the ship goes almost directly for breaking in South Asia. It would be naive to believe that shipowners are not aware of what is going on," he said.
Hapag-Lloyd said it had no comment on the protest, saying it is "not selling vessels to scrappers/cash buyers," according to American Shipper.
A spokesman for the German Shipowners Association said: "Only internationally binding standards are effective in ensuring environmentally sound recycling of ships in safe working conditions at all break-up locations across the globe."
SHIP RECYCLING
12 February 2014 - 23:08
German protesters rally against shipbreaking beaches in south Asia
A DEMONSTRATION has been staged at the headquarters of the German Shipowners Association in Hamburg by those protesting shipbreaking beaches in India and Bangladesh.
SHIP RECYCLING
12 February 2014 - 23:08
German protesters rally against shipbreaking beaches in south Asia
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