How a UK company is using a Caribbean tax haven to cash in on scrapping toxic ships in Bangladesh
Figures from the NGO
Shipbreaking Platform showed that almost half the 532 ships broken on the
beaches of south Asia in 2018 flew flags of three tiny offshore tax havens –
the Comoros islands in the Indian Ocean, Palau in the Pacific, and the
Caribbean islands of St Kitts and Nevis whose flag was found on 29 of those
vessels.Under European
state-controlled port inspection regimes, all three flags are blacklisted due
to their poor enforcement of international conventions. In the past three
years, 143 St Kitts and Nevis vessels have been scrapped
A UK company that acts as a formal outpost for a tiny Caribbean tax haven is a facilitator for one of the world’s deadliest trades – the scrapping of toxic ships on the beaches of south Asia. It can now be revealed that The St Christopher and Nevis International Ship Registry Ltd, based in the east London suburb of Romford, is the official seller of shipping flags for the twin islands of St Kitts and Nevis 4,000 miles away.
The company, known as
Skanreg, has been cashing in on the demand from unscrupulous shipowners who
want to scrap vessels in countries such as Bangladesh, India and
Pakistan, by charging them lucrative fees for ship registration. Dozens of ships can be
seen in satellite images of the notorious beach “yards” of Chittagong,
Bangladesh, with long stretches of seafront spoiled by abandoned vessels likely
to contain poisonous and carcinogenic substances, including asbestos,
arsenic and mercury. When a rusting ship is
dropped at such a yard, the workers who rush to break them up are provided with
little or no protection.
In a report to the UN
Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in 2018, Special Rapporteur Baskut Tuncak said
shipbreaking was “another egregious example of an industry that continues to
externalise impacts on poor workers and communities in developing countries”. He also noted the
“abhorrent working conditions and abysmal environmental protections” common in
the beach yards of south Asia... read more:
