Two Indian shipbreaking yards were voted to be excluded from the European Union’s approved list of ship recyclers after the EU Parliament upheld an objection to include them on the directory.
Initially, the European Commission backed the facilities following inspections to verify if they meet the EU Ship Recycling Regulation standards.
However, the Parliament’s environment committee rejected the Commission’s proposal to include the Shree Ram Vessel Scrap and YSI Recyclers, based in the Alang-Sosiya shipbreaking hub in Gujarat, in the approved list of ship dismantling yards.
Legislators who opposed the measure expressed concern over the method used in the facilities where they let tidal shorelines dismantle the out of service ships beached in the recycling yards.
They questioned how the beaching method would be able to mitigate pollution and hazardous waste.
MORE INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Philippine groups protest proposed Pax Silica deal ahead of Trump’s visit
MEPs, campaigners cite various concerns
Some members of the European Parliament also raised worries over downstream waste handling on scrap steel sent to local re-rolling mills.
They cited that those materials have not been assessed against EU industrial emissions standards.
Pro-environment campaigners also noted that elevated levels of toxic substances, including copper, chromium, cadmium and mercury, were identified in the Alang-Sosiya area.
Reacting to the decision, NGO Shipbreaking Platform executive director Ingvild Jenssen said that the European Parliament vote provided a strong message to the Commission that the approval of the shipbreaking yards amid their deficiencies would weaken the regulation’s objectives.
Meanwhile, the European Community Shipowners’ Association warned about the negative effects of the decision, saying that the credibility of the regulation would be undermined by the vote to disenfranchise the facilities that had passed the initial environment assessment process.
READ MORE: All hands on deck for COP31 as threats and tensions loom
For their part, environmental organizations and industry representatives expressed displeasure over the beaching operations that take place in the recycling yards.
They said that the process should not be recognized as it could not prove the sufficient containment of hazardous materials.
Campaigners also expressed doubts on the industry’s belief that additional capacity is needed.
They claimed that more than two million light displacement tons of combined annual capacity at EU-approved shipbreaking facilities is enough to accommodate recent recycling volumes of EU-flagged and EU-owned ships.
The regulations state that EU-flagged commercial ships subject to the Ship Recycling Regulation must be broken down at yards on the approved European list.
Experts argue that giving the opportunity for Indian yards to take EU-flagged and EU-owned tonnage would give owners more recycling options and potentially alter competition with existing approved facilities in Europe and Turkey.
READ NEXT: Three ways Democrats can reshape Washington following seismic midterm win
Zach Heynes 
Hyacinth Estrada 
Wendellyn Mateo