Company avoids trial by accepting fine for illegal shipbreaking

Altera Infrastructure avoided trial by accepting the NOK 8 million (around $720,048) fine for illegal shipbreaking.

The NOK 8 million fine was imposed on the ship management company for the illegal scrapping of the two shuttle tankers Navion Britannia and Alexita Spirit on the beach of Alang, India. Initially, the company contested the fine, and a trial was scheduled for January 2025. However, Altera has now accepted the penalty, thereby avoiding a trial.

Despite EU rules prohibiting the export of end-of-life ships from EU waters to non-OECD countries, the two tankers, having reached the end of their operational life, were sold sent for dismantling at a beaching facility in India. Beaching involves scrapping ships in the intertidal zone without containment and causes severe pollution, including heavy metal contamination of sensitive coastal ecosystems. Workers at these yards also face significant health and safety risks due to lack of protective measures.

Ingvild Jenssen, Executive Director and Founder, NGO Shipbreaking Platform, stated that the investigations led by the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Økokrim) revealed that Altera Infrastructure chose to dismantle the ships in India. With the help of a cash buyer, a scrap dealer already heavily fined in the Harrier case, Altera was able to sell the two tankers at a considerably higher price than what they would have obtained from selling to a sustainable ship recycling yard.

SOURCE : safety4sea