space Press Releases, News Stories

by Rajesh Joshi, Lloyd's List

Caption: Dirty work: Shipbreakers in Mumbai ripping off a layer of insulation, possibly containing asbestos.

Arnulf L'Orsa said that laudable as the IMO initiative is, it could allow western countries to shirk spending real money while still claiming the moral high ground.

Mr L'Orsa said he knew of Indian shipbreakers who would agree to upgrade environmental procedures, and allow inspections, provided shipowners agreed to take a corresponding cut in the rate paid for scrap ships.

However, western shipowners could be expected to refuse such reductions in sale prices per lightweight tonne.

Mr L'Orsa believed the Norwegian Shipowners' Association and Norwegian government guidelines on ship scrapping could, by default, continue to allow individual shipowners to do as they wished while the country scored brownie points in international environmental discussions. He emphasised that there was a need for both long-term and short-term action.

"Even the shipowners' association has admitted that the IMO initiative might take five years to take hold," Mr L'Orsa observed.

He believed that the focus on last week's Amsterdam scrapping having failed to agree a joint statement was misplaced. He said the fact that up to six Indian shipbreakers were invited, and attended, was in itself a major encouraging sign.

"Otherwise there would only have been a bunch of westerners nodding agreement to matters that directly involve the Indians," he said.

Mr L'Orsa said his individual conversations with Indian shipbreakers in Amsterdam had left him confident that their hearts were in the right place. This was also borne out by the fact that Indians do not allow gas-laden ships to beach, a precaution absent in China and Bangladesh.

Provided proper programmes were put in place to channel equipment and investment to the Indian facilities, matters would slowly improve, he said.

Possible avenues could include the export of cranes and other industrial handling equipment, and individual items such as asbestos suits and shoes.

Mr L'Orsa estimated that on average, such help could imply a 'discount' of 10% to 15% of the rate per ldt, which sellers would have to agree to bear.

But Mr L'Orsa warned that there were no quick fixes, and the Indians will have to really go the extra mile in making proper use of such help and establishing long-term credibility.

An added incentive for the Indians to pull up their socks could come from an initiative on the anvil in the Philippines.

A group of American and Dutch individuals is said to have a blueprint for a shipbreaking facility in Luzon, which would use local labour at local rates, while still being modern and environmentally acceptable.

The initial capital cost for the project is said to be $15m. The promoters are understood to be soliciting support for this project.

The Luzon facility could also score over the Indians in that it would allow the handling of large ships,such as VLCCs. Indians tend to prefer ships of only up to10,000 ldt to 15,000 ldt, corresponding with about 100,000 dwt. In addition, the Luzon facility might be willing to forego the environmental 'premium' in an effort to land customers.