German Shipowner Worst Global Dumper -NSP
German shipowner Ernst Komrowski topped the list of the worst global dumpers with 14 end-of-life vessels sold to the beaches, according to a press release from NGO Ship-breaking Platform (NSP).
All of these were formerly part of the Maersk fleet and had been on a long-term charter with the Danish containership giant, which oppositely to Komrowski has a strict ship recycling policy for its own vessels. Second ranks South Korea’s largest container ship owner Hanjin Shipping with 11 ships, followed by Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Company.
Hanjin and MSC’s bad practice stands in sharp contrast to that of their competitors Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, two leading containership companies that have committed themselves to the recycling of their end-of-life vessels in modern facilities off the beach. Number four amongst the worst dumpers is Brazilian oil giant Petrobras with six end-of-life vessels sold to South Asia.
Komrowski, Hanjin, MSC and Petrobras are followed by a range of companies which have all sold five end-of-life vessels to the beaches, amongst them well-know dumpers such as Conti, one of the largest German ship owners offering private investment in ships, G-Bulk and Danaos from Greece and Ignazio Messina from Italy. Also American TBS International, Singapore-based Pacific International and Taiwanese owner Yang Ming each sold five ships to the beaches in South Asia.
Meanwhile, Komrowski sources say that the report was incorrect. The source said that the vessels concerned were being managed by other companies at the time they were sent for scrapping.
NSP claimed today that 641 out of 1,026 vessels demolished last year were sent to such beach-based facilities in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The organization, which reported 23 deaths and 66 severe injuries in shipbreaking accidents, last year in South Asia, singled out Ernst Komrowski as the “worst global dumper”.
