Nine workers have died following exposure to toxic gas inside the LNG carrier MT RASI (IMO 9176008) at a shipbreaking yard in Chattogram, Bangladesh, on 14 August. Among the victims was a 17-year-old worker, while several others were injured in the tragic incident.
The tragedy occurred at a yard certified as compliant with the Hong Kong Convention (HKC). Only one month earlier, Bangladesh's Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments had taken legal action against Ferdous Steel following repeated occupational safety failures. Following the deaths, the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) issued a notice demanding an independent investigation and the shutdown of the yard.
The scale of this tragedy is shocking, but fatal and serious accidents in the sector are far from exceptional. According to The Daily Star, 84 accidents have occurred at Bangladeshi yards since the HKC entered into force in June 2025, leaving 15 workers dead and 81 injured.
These figures expose the gap between certification on paper and conditions on the ground. They also underline the limits of the HKC itself. The Convention establishes a weaker global baseline than the obligations of the Basel Convention, which is designed to prevent hazardous waste from being exported to countries unable to manage it in an environmentally sound manner.
"Hazardous end-of-life ships should not be exported for recycling where environmentally sound management cannot be guaranteed. Yet, due to weak enforcement, vessels continue to be sent to South Asian beaches despite recurring deaths, pollution, and serious deficiencies in hazardous waste management. Certifications must not become a licence to continue business as usual."
Ingvild Jenssen - Executive Director and Founder - NGO Shipbreaking Platform
Accountability does not stop at the yard gate. Shipowners and cash buyers decide where vessels are dismantled and must bear responsibility for those choices.
The RASI is the former HL RAS LAFFAN, owned by South Korean H-Line Shipping and linked by shipping databases to cash buyer GMS. In March 2025, the Platform specifically warned that H-Line was preparing to retire the vessel, while denouncing the company's continued disposal of end-of-life ships on South Asian shores.
The Platform calls on Bangladeshi authorities to ensure an independent and transparent investigation into the nine deaths, hold those responsible to account, schedule regular unannounced inspections, and enforce safety and environmental requirements.
The tragedy should also serve as yet another warning to regulators elsewhere. As the European Commission considers approving shipbreaking facilities that continue to dismantle vessels directly on beaches, the costs of accepting certification in place of genuinely safe and contained recycling infrastructure could not be clearer.
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