OSLO, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- A company from Singapore had to pay a fine of 7 million Norwegian kroner (769,231 U.S. dollars) for attempting to sail a damaged ship from Norway to Pakistan for scrapping, public broadcaster NRK reported Monday.
According to Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Okokrim), the company named Wirana Shipping Corporation tried to take the ship "Tide Carrier" out of Hoylandsbygd, western Norway for beaching in Pakistan in 2017 without the approval of the Norwegian Environment Agency.
"It was discovered that the ship would be scrapped on a beach in Pakistan. That is prohibited by EU regulations which also apply in Norway," Prosecutor Tarjei Istad told NRK.
Ellen Hambro, director general of the Norwegian Environment Agency, told NRK that they were very pleased with Okokrim's decision.
"This sends a clear signal to the shipping industry that attempts to export ships for illegal scrapping are punishable," she said.
The cargo ship Tide Carrier, which later changed its name to Harrier, was stranded at Norwegian western coast in winter 2017.
After the Singaporean company was caught off guard, the ship was later scrapped in Turkey in September 2018. Although the scrapping there took place on a beach, there has been no talk of environmentally harmful "beaching", Norwegian Environment Agency said.
The so-called "beaching", referring to pulling up ships on beaches and breaking them up there in poor working conditions and causing damage to the environment, has been a long lasting problem in South Asia countries.
According to a latest report from the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, 744 large ocean-going commercial vessels were sold to the scrap yards in 2018, out of which 518 were broken down on tidal mudflats in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
