28 December 2010

'Toxic timebomb' safely defused as stricken dredger is dismantled

A ship which threatened to detonate an "environmental time bomb" when it became beached off North Devon has been dismantled. The demolition of a 600-tonne stricken ship in north Devon has been completed, the Environment Agency says. Oil, petrol and asbestos were removed from the 600-tonne vessel before it was dismantled.


Demolition crews this week completed the break-up of the Severn Sands, which slipped its moorings at Fremington on a high tide in September and almost caused a major disaster for local wildlife.

The dredger had briefly raised fears that it would spill its toxic cargo of asbestos, diesel and oil into the Rive Taw estuary.

Relieved onlookers from the nearby Tarka Trail nature walk and cycle route watched in October as the stricken vessel was towed to safety and tied up near Instow Jetty at Bideford.

The final section of the hull was removed from the foreshore this week by Cornwall-based DRS Demolition, following a six-week de-pollution and dismantling operation co-ordinated by the Environment Agency (EA) and North Devon District Council.

The Health and Safety Executive oversaw the removal by DRS of the asbestos-filled funnels and exhausts before the engine room was cleaned and dismantled.

Chris Lawson, Environment Agency spokesman described the work of the contractors as "exemplary" and said there had been "no adverse impact on the environment".

"The engine room and fuel tanks had been entirely washed out and all the tyres, rubbish and hazardous fuels were safely removed, paving the way for the step-by-step dismantling," he added.

27 December 2010

Green Ship Recycling: Developments, Recent Trends & Outlook

THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2011 10:00 AM EST
(3:00 PM LONDON) (4:00 PM PARIS) (5:00 PM ATHENS) (7:00 PM DUBAI)

DURATION: 30 MINUTES FOLLOWED BY Q&A SESSION

Overview:
The importance of Green Ship Recycling services is apparent. "Green Recycling" is intended for the socially responsible ship owner whom demands a demolition process that offers a safe working environment at the yard along with safe removal and disposal of hazardous materials on board. With green awareness in mind, more owners are implementing green ship recycling in compliance with the IMO's Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships 2009 requirements.

The objective of the Green Ship Recycling webinar is to update your knowledge and get new information about green ship recycling. This webinar will provide the latest developments, trends and outlook on the industry.

Key Topics included in the Green Ship Recycling Webinar are:
  • Importance of green ship recycling
  • Innovative and practical ways for ship owners to implement green ship recycling
  • Reasons ship owners recycle at 'green' facilities
  • Additional financial and regulatory implications for ship owners when selling their vessels for scrap
  • Latest developments in key international ship recycling centers 
Who Should Attend?
Shipowners - Shipbrokers - Ship recycling yards - Shipbuilders - Shipbreakers - Shiprecyclers - Legislators - Lawyers - Regulators - Maritime suppliers - Classification societies - Ship Charterers - Buy side analysts - Sell side analysts - Private equity firms - Ship charterers - Investment bankers - Consultants

Featured Speaker:
Mr. Zia Ansari, Commercial Director, Global Marketing Systems, JLT. 
Zia Ansari moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2010 to serve as Commercial Director of the GMS office in Dubai. Zia holds an MBA from the Institute of Business Management in Karachi and a MSC in Maritime Economics and Logistics from Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands. Zia is a qualified Member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers UK (MICS). As Commercial Director, Zia is responsible for all commercial activities relating to cash buying and selling of ships for recycling. Zia is also responsible for all special projects including GREEN ship recycling initiatives.

Speaker:
Serving on the panel with Zia will be Dr. Anil Sharma, President and Founder of GMS (declared amongst the "Lloyd's List One Hundred 2010 most influential people in the shipping industry") and Mr. Jens Rogge, Maritime Solutions-Certification Lead Auditor/Ship Recycling of Germanischer Lloyd SE.

Introductory Remarks by:
Mr. Nicolas Bornozis, President - Capital Link
The Green Ship Recycling Webinar is organized by Capital Link, a New York-based Investor Relations and Financial Communications firm with strategic focus on shipping.

About GMS:
Established in 1992, USA based GMS is the world's largest Cash Buyer of ships for recycling. With exclusive representatives in all of the major ship recycling markets in the world, GMS negotiates more than 100 vessels for recycling every year. In 2009, the company delivered in excess of 8 mill DWT of tonnage. The company has expanded its operations with the opening an office in Dubai, UAE in 2009 and in Shanghai, China in 2010. Some of the world's largest ship owners sell their ships exclusively to GMS. GMS is the only Cash Buyer to work closely with the IMO, shipowners, government institutions, various associations and the ship recycling community to facilitate the development of the proposed Convention on Ship Recycling. The company contributes extensively to agendas that create a safer and responsible ship recycling processes. We are the world's FIRST ISO 9001:2000 certified Cash Buyer. We are also the FIRST Cash Buyer to develop and promote a Green Ship Recycling Program.

In October of this year, GMS joined forces with world renowned classification society Germanischer Lloyd (GL) in launching one the most pioneering and sensible green recycling initiative, the GMS - GL Green Ship Recycling Program (GSRP). This collaborative venture was created for the seamless implementation of Safe and Environmentally Sound ship recycling guidelines developed by the IMO's Hong Kong Convention. Recently, with technical assistance of GMS, three ship recycling yards in Bangladesh were able to secure ISO certifications in regard to quality management, safety, environment and ship recycling. GMS is one of the only cash buyers that sells to ALL major ship recycling markets. GMS holds the record for doing the BIGGEST deal in ship recycling history! GMS has successfully delivered several ULCCs, VLCC, VLGCs, OBOs, Containers, Capesize Bulk Carriers and other large vessels. In fact, GMS has delivered one of the largest ULCCs for recycling. Vessels are bought on simple "as is where is" or "delivered" terms. Our specialized teams can reactivate laid-up vessels and steam them to the recycling yards under buyers risk, name and flag. If vessels cannot be reactivated, they are towed to their destination. All purchases are done on simple CASH terms. When it comes to competitive prices, accurate guidance, solid performance and integrity, shipowners turn to GMS.

About Capital Link, Inc.
Capital Link is a New York-based advisory, investor relations and financial communications firm. Capital Link has made a strategic commitment to the shipping industry, becoming the largest provider of investor relations and financial communications services to international shipping companies listed on both the US and European Exchanges. Capital Link's headquarters are in New York, with a presence in London and Athens. Capital Link is a member of the Baltic Exchange.

NB: Registrants can download the PowerPoint Presentation from this webcast. This webinar will also be available on demand at any time after the live broadcast.

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform calls on the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to take action

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform calls on the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to take action against the dumping of end-of-life ships to stop continuing exploitation of Bangladeshi labourers and degradation of coastal environment.

Ms Sheikh Hasina
The Honourable Prime Minister of Bangladesh
Prime Minister's Offices
Old Sangsad Bhaban, Tejgaon,
Dhaka-1215
Bangladesh

Brussels, 13th December 2010

Dear Madam,

With this letter, the NGO Platform on Shipbreaking and all its member organizations as well as other undersigned persons and organizations, wish to express our great appreciation for your government’s commitment and leadership to protect the environment and the precious natural resources of Bangladesh and to reinforce labour rights. Such a commitment toward sustainability and respect of human rights in Bangladesh improves our fragile planet’s hope for a sustainable future worldwide.

With this letter we seek your judicious and appropriate intervention against the dumping of hazardous end-of–life ships primarily by western, foreign owners, which results in the continuing exploitation of Bangladeshi labourers and coastal environment. It is unacceptable that the European countries protect their own beaches and labourers and refuse to take the responsibility for dismantling or pre-cleaning their own ships in their own facilities. Yet due to the higher costs involved in the safe and sound pre-cleaning and dismantling of ships in proper facilities, the shipping industry continues to use countries like Bangladesh as a dumping ground for obsolete vessels laden with deadly hazardous waste materials found on board such ships including asbestos, PCBs, toxic paints, biocides, fuel residues and other hazardous substances.

These unscrupulous shipping companies and countries that represent them are organizing themselves against any attempt by national governments to put a halt to such unsustainable and exploitive exportation. Meanwhile, ship breaking on Bangladeshi beaches has continued to expand at an ever-increasing rate with a commensurate increase in death and accidents (which do not even begin to reflect the numbers of workers impacted from toxic heavy metals, PCBs and asbestos) with occupational diseases such as asbestosis and cancer.

So too have the losses of coastal fishery and forests, preceded at an alarming rate due to this unregulated industry. It is worth noting that no developed country from which these ships are managed during their useful lives would ever allow the management of hazardous waste ships on their coastal beaches.

The export of obsolete ships from wealthy shipping companies and nations to the beaches of Bangladesh and other South Asian countries for scrapping is the type of scandalous exploitation that the United Nations Basel Convention - the only international Convention currently in force that applies to toxic end-of-life vessels - was designed to arrest. Decision VII/26 of the Basel Convention requires all countries to actively implement the Basel Convention for ships as a form of ‘hazardous waste.’ The Basel Convention requires inter alia for states to avoid the transboundary movements of wastes, and to never allow such wastes to ever go to facilities or countries that cannot operate in an environmentally sound manner (e.g. in accordance with the Basel Convention Guidelines on Ship Dismantling). Further, the Basel Convention passed Decision III/1 that forbids the export of hazardous wastes from Annex VII countries (OECD/EU and Liechtenstein) to all other countries for any reason.

It is clear that the export of ships by developed countries to Bangladesh for breaking purposes without first pre-cleaning them by the owner in an Annex VII country and outside the territory of Bangladesh is a violation of the letter and spirit of the Basel Convention and its Decision III/1. Further they can only be received by facilities that are defined as environmentally sound in accordance with the definition of the Basel Convention. That definition calls for taking all practicable steps to ensure the protection of human life and the environment. Such is far from the case in Bangladesh. All these years these legal requirements have tactically been avoided by the owners/exporters and thus the environment of Bangladesh continues to receive irreparable harm to its ecosystem and people. This has been done in the name of economics, but the economic costs of the long-term damage to human health and the environment far exceeds the alleged benefits. And yet such externalized costs to Bangladesh are conveniently unaccounted for by those reaping short-term gain.

Continuing to allow deadly and dirty shipbreaking in the developing countries without prescribing responsibility to the shipping industry to at least first clean their ships of all hazardous waste and second move this industry off of the beaches to the docks of Chittagong, shall only mean perpetuating a human and environmental disaster which is far out of proportion to the welfare the industry provides the country and the global environment.

Now we note that the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has finally come forward to address the anarchies and hypocrisies surrounding this ship breaking industry and last year rendered a landmark and correct judgement to regulate the ship breaking industry by requiring compliance with international and national law. The directions of the Supreme Court are in accord with the international legal obligations of the exporting countries, as they require all ships entering the territory of Bangladesh to be decontaminated prior to importation. Further the Court requires compliance with all environmental regulations of Bangladesh. This is the only legal means by which ships can continue to be imported into the territory of Bangladesh – by first pre-cleaning them in an Annex VII country prior to export.

Despite this progressive step forward however, the business pressure from the shipping and shipbreaking industry is now growing high on all of the actors in Bangladesh seeking to do what is just and right for the national interest because if Bangladesh begins to comply with its international environmental commitments, it will be very difficult for any other country to not do likewise and the industry would finally have to reform and clean up its behaviour for lack of global dumping grounds.

With our confidence in your righteous thinking and humanitarian leadership, we humbly urge your full support in demanding compliance with all international and national legal requirements by the owners/sellers of ships and by shipbreaking yards. We urge your support for ensuring implementation of the Supreme Court ruling in this regard. Your committed and prudent leadership gives us the confidence that Bangladesh shall resist the undue pressure from the global and local actors of the industry. If Bangladesh manages to ensure compliance with international law it will be regarded as a global leader in defending its own territorial interest against the undue pressure from the exploitive practices of some wealthy developed nations. Moreover such a step will lead to the creation of the true global solution – pre-cleaning of vessels and green ship recycling facilities that are off our world’s precious beaches.

Finally, we wish to call your attention to the efforts of the ship breakers to criminalize and threaten the public interest organizations that have challenged their deadly and damaging activities to the workers and the environment of Bangladesh. While we condemn such activities of the ship breakers. we hope you will take into consideration our concerns voiced as they are from all around the world, and with your kind intervention and guidance protect and support our members in Bangladesh in their struggle to prevent Bangladesh from being used as a global dumping ground at the expense of its environment and labour force.

We are grateful for your kind and careful consideration of our collective concern with regards to this grave problem and look forward to your righteous response to it.


Yours sincerely,


The undersigned persons and organizations appeal to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to support the Bangladesh Supreme Court Decision to end the unsustainable and illegal shipbreaking operations on the beaches of Bangladesh and to also support and protect those individuals that seek reform of this dangerous and illegal industry:

Souhayr Belhassen, President of FIDH -
Grazia CIOCI, Acting Director, NGO Platform on Shipbreaking, Belgium -
Jim PUCKETT, Director, Basel Action Network, USA -
Marietta HARJONO, Greenpeace, Netherlands -
Eelco LEEMANS, Acting Director, The North Sea Foundation, Netherlands -
Ritwick DUTTA, Executive Director, Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment, India -
Erdem VARDAR, Director, Yuva Society, Turkey -
Nityanand JAYARAMAN, Independent Researcher and Journalist, Chennai, India-
Madhumita DUTTA, The Other Media, Chennai, India -
Gopal KRISHNA, Convener, ToxicsWatch Alliance, India -
Eivind HOFF, Bellona Europa, Belgium -
Chris CARROLL, Seas at Risk, Belgium -
Knud ANDERSEN, Chairman, The Danish Society for a Living Sea, Denmark -
Genon JENSEN, Director, Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), Belgium -
Jyoti MHAPSEKAR, President, Stree Mukti Sanghtana, Mumbai, India -
Rico EURIPIDOU, GroundWork - Friends of the Earth SA, South Africa -
Geoffrey N. KAMESE, National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), Uganda
S.M. Mohamed IDRIS, President, Consumers’ Association of Penang, Sahabat Alam (Friends of the Earth), Malaysia -
Sanjeev KUMAR, WWF European Policy Office, Belgium -
Sasanka DEV, President, Society for Direct Initiative for Social and Health Action (DISHA), Kolkata, India -
Juliette WILLIAMS, Director, Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), UK -
Helen MUSCAT, Chairperson, The Action for Breast Cancer Foundation, Malta -
Donald L. HASSIG, Director, Cancer Action NY, Cancer Action Network, USA -
Marie-Lou ROUX, Executive Officer, Habitat Council, South Africa -
Rey K. PALACIO, Non-Com POPs IEC Project, EcoWaste Coalition, Philippines -
Federico DEMARIA, Researcher, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain -
M M Mahbub HASAN, Chief Regional Officer, Coastal Development Partnership (CDP), Bangladesh -
Tracy FRISCH, President, Greenwich Citizens Committee, New York, U.S.A. -
Alan MULLER, Executive Director, Green Delaware, USA -
Madhuresh KUMAR, National Alliance of People’s Movements, India -
Subash Chandra Biswas, Chairperson, Association for Sustainable -Development, Bangladesh -
Zuleica NYCZ, APROMAC – Environmental Protection Association and
TOXISPHERA – Health Environmental Association, Brazil -
Natasha HARTY, East Cork for a Safe Environment, Ireland -
Ram Charitra Sah, Executive Director, Center for Public Health and Environmental Development (CEPHED), Nepal -
Leo Saldanha, Bhargavi Rao, Mallesh K. R. and Sruthi Subbanna, Environment Support Group, India -
Yuyun ISMAWATI, BALIFOKUS Foundation, Indonesia -
Mwadhini O. MYANZA, Executive Director, Irrigation, Training and Economic Empowerment Organisation (IRTECO), Tanzania -
Desmond D’SA, South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, Durban, South Africa -
Margaret E. SHEEHAN, Attorney at Law, EcoLaw Massachusetts, Cambridge, USA.
Source: 23 December 2010

Nat Geo Photography Contest 2010- ShipBreaking photo wins in 'Places' category


Places Winner: Photo and caption by Jana Asenbrennerova

In "Ship Breakers of Chittagong," workers expose a ship's innards in Chittagong, Bangladesh, one of the world's biggest ship graveyards.

Despite its unsafe work practices and pollution, the city is "one of the biggest industry and job opportunities for many Bangladeshis," noted photographer Jana Asenbrennerova of San Francisco.

The unusual perspective of the winning photograph impressed judges.

"It's basically an industrial landscape photo, but done in an interesting way, with humans for scale, that we couldn't stop looking at it," said judge Joel Sartore, a freelance photographer.

"I've seen a lot of shipbreaking photos, but never seen this one before," said freelance photographer and judge Stephen Alvarez. "You know at once where you are and what is going on."

Judge Sadie Quarrier, a National Geographic magazine senior photo editor, said she liked "how the photographer decided to shoot this quite tight so we only see portions of the ship."

"This allows the eye to wander around and inspect all of the various pipes, parts, and people."

Source: 2010 National Geographic Photography Contest Galleries http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/photo-contest/2010/entries/gallery/places-winners/

Turkey Leads Ship Recycling Nations in Green Measures

Turkey is the only one of the five major ship-scrapping countries to have signed the Hong Kong Convention designed to improve the environmental aspects of ship recycling. The convention aims to introduce standards for the handling of hazardous substance such as asbestos. It requires that shipbuilders compile a list of hazardous material onboard vessels, to be maintained by shipowners and owners will be required to scrap vessels only at recycling facilities equipped to safely handle and dispose of the materials on board.

Implementation of the convention remains a long way off, as it requires signing by 15 states representing 40% of world merchant shipping. So far, it has been signed by five nations, but not by any of the other major ship scrapping countries –India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China.

Turkey has around 20 companies involved in ship scrapping and last year handled approximately 200 vessels of around 500,000ldt. It is already close to the standards outlined in the new convention.

Source: KALIMBASSIERISMARITIME, Cypriot News
http://www.kalimbassieris.com/img/x2/news/news89_1_1292918500.pdf

ShipBreaking rises in China:

Chinese shipbuilders, mainly new shipyards struggling for the newbuilding market, have recently been turing into the ship scrapping and/or repairing business, securing scrapping volume at a lower price than India's.

A capesize bulker built in 1981 has recently sold to Chinese yard for scrapping at a price of $448 per LDT, totaling $9m.

In response to increasing requirement to use environmentally-friendly facilities, the scrapping prices Chinese yards offer stay at the $30-$40 lower level per LDT as compared to deliveries, but shipowners still prefer Chinese yards.

Another reason for favoring Chinese yards for ship demolition is the nearest distance as Japan and China are the last voyage place of the ships to be scrapped.

Meanwhile, another ship demolition powerhouse India and Pakistan are still doing scrapping works, but the scrapping is being given little weight.

One of Indian ship scrapping yards has bought a bulker for a price of $470 per LDT totaling $4.4m, but the world's biggest ship scrapping nation Bangladesh has not been able to conduct scrapping works since its 25 yards could not meet environmental standards yet.

Source: asiasis Author, 22 Dec 2010
http://www.simic.net.cn/english/detail.jsp?id=9600

Bangladesh upholds scrapping BAN

BANGLADESH’S High Court has upheld an order barring ships from entering the country’s scrapyards until its previous verdicts on the breaking sector are implemented.

Acting on a petition filed by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), last week two High Court judges also directed the government to formulate a shipbreaking policy within three months and form a panel of specialists within a month to implement the policy and court orders.

On 17th March 2009, the court ordered the environment department to shut down breaking yards that lacked environmental clearance from the government within two weeks.

BELA chief Syeda Rezwana Hasan accused the government of failing to follow that order, while in December 2008, an environment department report said breaking yards had not even applied for permission to operate.

Source: Tanker Operator, Dec  22  2010

'Oil spill' in the Bay: Pilots, passengers spot 3km slick off Sitakunda, Chittagong; DoE sends team

A three-kilometre long oil slick has been seen in the bay off Sitakunda in the district.

Pilots and passengers flying in and out of Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport said they had noticed the strip 300 to 400 feet in width.

The reddish-black layer -- first reported on Monday -- was spreading towards Sitakunda.

Both the reason and the severity of the slick so far remained unconfirmed.

Zafar Alam, director of Department of Environment (DoE) in Chittagong, told The Daily Star that hearing the news he had sent a three-member team comprising a chemist, an inspector and an assistant secretary to the area.

“They travelled across the area on a speed boat and found an oil spill from an Indian flag carrier called Ocean Pearl,” Zafar said.

However, the spill from the fertiliser carrying ship was not that big, he said. No contact with the vessel has been made yet.

A DoE official seeking anonymity said ship-breaking yards, a few kilometres away, are also “strongly suspected” to be the source of the slick.

Sitakunda homes the country's lone ship breaking industry.

“Ship breaking is a highly polluting industry and it is already wreaking havoc on the ecology of the area,” he said.

The official added the area is heavily fished and out of the navigational route. The matter would have remained unnoticed if the passengers and the pilots had kept mum.

Munir Chowdhury, director (enforcement) of DoE in Chittagong, saw the strip on Monday morning while on a Regent Airways flight to Dhaka.

“I was shocked to see the spillage over an area of more than three kilometres. The spill was in the direction of Sitakunda,” Munir told The Daily Star yesterday.

Three pilots of Bangladesh Biman flights to Chittagong and Cox's Bazar also confirmed the report yesterday.

It is a huge spill, said the pilots requesting anonymity, and could be disastrous to the already polluted ecology of the area.

Lt Commander Mostafizur Rahman of Bangladesh Coast Guard told this correspondent he had tried to reach the spot on Monday but failed due to navigational hazard.

“Today [yesterday] I dispatched a smaller boat to the area but my men reported that they could not trace the spillage. It must have been drifted away by strong current.”

Source: The Daily Star, Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Alang update: Ship-breakers end strike, to resume work

The four-day-long strike by ship-breakers at Alang, Asia's largest ship-breaking yard, ended on Friday evening after the representatives of ship-breakers met officials of central excise and other departments concerned to discus their problems. The work at Alang yard will resume on Saturday.

Ship-breakers had gone on strike to protest a notification issued by central excise, asking for a ship-wise break-up of material obtained from dismantled vessels. The notification was issued in July and ship-breakers were asked to periodically submit details of excisable and non-excisable items obtained from the ships they bring for scraping. Ship-breakers were told to maintain ship-to-ship stock register.

"The co-relation of consignment-wise input-output is not possible for any industry and is also not supported by law. Similarly, ship recyclers are in no position to maintain such co-relation as more than one ships are recycled at plots and to differentiate between scrap generated from different ships is not possible,'' said Nikhil Gupta, joint secretary of Alang-Sosiya Ship-Recycling Association (ASSRA).

"The government officials have assured us that the rule has been put on hold till it is re-examined by the government department concerned in a month. The officials have agreed to find out an amicable solution. So, the industry will resume its function from Saturday,'' Gupta said.

The ASSRA official said that the industry provides raw material to more than 500 ancillary units, like rolling mills, furnace plants and forging units all over the country. The government has incurred revenue losses up to Rs 10-12 crore a day. According to an estimation by the association, the stalemate at Alang resulted in the loss of production of 10,000 tonnes of steel a day.

Source: The Times of India, Dec 24, 2010,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/rajkot/Ship-breakers-end-strike-to-resume-work/articleshow/7158736.cms

GMS weekly report on Bangladesh ship breaking industry, Week 50 & 51, 2010

WEEK 51:

The news emanating from Chittagong this week left many involved in the industry holding their heads in despair yet again. Environmental group BELA once again managed to obtain a high court order banning the import of any new vessel for recycling.

On December 15th, the Bangladeshi High Court passed an official order to local authorities to cease the issuance of fresh NOCs for future/incoming vessels. Additionally, the High Court also instructed the government to form an expert committee who would determine whether or not, a vessel arriving locally for scrap is free from hazardous materials (which in turn would determine whether the vessel would be permitted to beach locally).

Subsequent to the news, nearly all SNP activities in Bangladesh are once again on hold, with this news coming at a time when many had seen the recent activity as a few positive steps forward for the industry. Where exactly that leaves ship recycling in the country especially in the short term is anybody's guess, and there is sure to be the inevitable round of appeals, complaints and paperwork lodged in the ensuing weeks.

Whether those few vessels that had previously obtained NOCs will be allowed to beach is another question that remains unresolved, although it is very much hoped that local formalities and deliveries can proceed as planned. With Bangladesh frozen out of the game then for another indefinite period of time, it will be up to all other competing markets to fire up their engines to invest in the expected heavy influx of vessels to come.

WEEK 50:

The now familiar process of appeals and accusations have been doing the rounds in Bangladesh this week, with permission for those 14 vessels recently beached not yet in place. It is hoped by the concerned recyclers that the permission could be in place within the next few weeks, but with the situation as it has been for the past 6 months in Chittagong, it is dangerous to put a timescale on anything.

Since the first round of beachings, several more large vessels have actually beached including an LPG and a Capesize. However, these have been done at levels resembling the Indian sub continent prices presently, not the stratospheric numbers many are expecting (perhaps lightly so given the absence of the industry from the scene for the past half a year and the deserted state of the yards).

Nevertheless, with 8 more recyclers still hoping to obtain permission, it is likely to be a gradual process and one that may not see a sharp spike in prices but a slow 'trickle' to relevant yards at far more muted levels, perhaps just the 're-introduction' many local buyers would have hoped for in order to manage expectations somewhat.

Source: SteelGuru. Thursday, 16 Dec 2010 and Tuesday, 21 Dec 2010. (Sourced from GMS Weekly)

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