Four Asian shipowners rapped for their recycling choices
The vessel scrapping choices of four Asian shipping lines have incurred the wrath of the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund. Oslo-headquartered Norges Bank has announced that it has decided to exclude nine companies including four shipowners from the government’s pension fund.
According to Norges Bank, the four shipping companies Evergreen Marine, Korea Line, Precious Shipping and Thoresen Thai Agencies are excluded from the fund based on an assessment of the risk of severe environmental damage and serious or systematic violations of human rights. Pan Ocean has been placed under observation based on the same criteria.
NGO Shipbreaking Platform said in a release that the exclusion is based on the companies’ poor management of their end-of-life ships and the sale of ships for dirty and dangerous shipbreaking on the beaches of Gadani, Pakistan and Chittagong, Bangladesh. “This is the first time that shipping companies have been excluded from an investment fund based on their poor shipbreaking practices, and coming from the largest investment fund in the world, it sends out a strong signal to all financial institutions to follow suit,” said Ingvild Jenssen, founder and director of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform.
According to NGO Shipbreaking Platform, in the last three years, 20 ships were sold by Evergreen, Korea Line, Precious Shipping and Thoresen Thai Agencies to beaching facilities in South Asia.
Additionally, the fund also decided to exclude construction and shipbuilding groups AECOM, BAE Systems, Fluor and Huntington Ingalls Industries for their involvement in the production of nuclear weapons.
