According to data released by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, 321 ocean-going commercial vessels were sold to scrap yards in 2025.
Atotal of 214 large tankers, bulk carriers, offshore platforms, and cargo and passenger ships were dismantled on the beaches of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. These vessels accounted for more than 85% of the global gross tonnage scrapped during the year. Bangladesh and India remain the shipping industry’s preferred destinations for shipbreaking, despite extensive documentation of the severe impacts of beaching practices on workers, local communities, and fragile coastal ecosystems, NGO Shipbreaking Platform noted.
Human cost of beaching practices
In South Asia, shipbreaking continues to take place under hazardous conditions. In 2025, eleven workers lost their lives in shipbreaking yards across the region. At least sixty-two additional workers were injured as a result of unsafe working practices.
Hong Kong Convention and ongoing safety failures
The International Maritime Organization’s Hong Kong Convention, HKC, entered into force in June 2025. Bangladesh has approved seventeen shipbreaking yards under the Convention. However, serious accidents continue to occur even at these approved facilities, and reporting of incidents remains opaque or entirely absent.
In India, no shipbreaking yards have yet been formally authorised under the HKC.
"Clearly, the Hong Kong Convention does not set a standard that ensures safe and environmentally sound practices. Now under review at the IMO, it is crucial to strengthen its requirements, including measures to phase out the fundamentally flawed beaching method "…commented Ingvild Jenssen, Executive Director and Founder, NGO Shipbreaking Platform, adding that enforcement of the Basel Convention’s restrictions on hazardous waste trade must be reinforced through mechanisms that effectively hold the shipping industry accountable. This requires shifting responsibility to the states that exercise real control over the owners of assets destined for disposal.
Growing backlog of end-of-life vessels
The Platform warns that the relatively low number of ships scrapped in recent years masks a rapidly growing backlog of ageing tonnage. Favorable operating rates have delayed recycling decisions, but a significant wave of vessels is expected to reach breaking yards in the coming years.
The shadow fleet and emerging parallel markets
The backlog includes hundreds of tankers operating within the so-called “shadow” or “dark” fleet. In 2025, some of these vessels were reportedly illicitly traded to Indian beaching yards using cash, cryptocurrencies, and foreign currencies in order to evade sanctions.
These developments, combined with mounting evidence that the shadow fleet may be far larger than previously assumed, risk fuelling a parallel and opaque shipbreaking economy. In such a system, safety standards, environmental protections, and waste controls can be easily bypassed.
"The many vessels that will be heading for scrap, including the dark fleet, must be recycled at safe, transparent, and fully regulated facilities — away from beaching practices. Existing facilities that already meet these standards, including ship recycling yards in the European Union, continue to operate at significant under-capacity " said Nicola Mulinaris, Senior Communication and Policy Advisor, NGO Shipbreaking Platform
Leading dumping countries
China tops the 2025 Dumpers List, with 21 Chinese-owned vessels sold to South Asian shipbreakers, primarily in Bangladesh. This occurs despite China’s substantial domestic capacity to recycle ships in dry-dock facilities.
South Korea and the United Arab Emirates follow closely, with 19 and 17 vessels beached respectively.
In addition, more than 60 vessels departed from the territorial waters of these countries for dismantling in South Asia.
Regulatory contradictions and legal obligations
The UAE Ship Recycling Regulation, which entered into force in June 2025, explicitly prohibits vessels from leaving UAE territorial waters for scrapping at beaching or landing yards. These methods are not recognised as safe or environmentally sound.
International law is equally clear. All transboundary movements of hazardous waste, including end-of-life ships, require Prior Informed Consent, PIC, under the Basel Convention and may only be approved when environmentally sound management is ensured throughout the disposal chain.
Exports of end-of-life ships from OECD to non-OECD countries are prohibited. Breaches of these rules constitute serious environmental crimes, as demonstrated by cases brought before European courts.
Shipowners and flags of convenience
Shipowners based in Asia and Europe dominate the list of companies selling vessels for dirty and dangerous dismantling on the beaches of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
A significant discrepancy persists between the countries where shipowners are headquartered and the flag states responsible for regulatory oversight of the global fleet.
At end-of-life, so-called last-voyage registries are particularly attractive to cash buyers. These flags are widely known for their weak enforcement of international maritime law and are blacklisted by most port states.
Do you know what flags of convenience are?
A flag of convenience ship is one that flies the flag of a country other than the country of ownership. This enables shipowners to “escape” inconvenient regulations of their home country. Flags of convenience are often registries that do not have nationality requirements for the shipping companies that use their flag – often because they actually do not have any shipping companies incorporated.
Circular economy opportunities and safe alternatives
According to the NGO, safe and regulated ship recycling facilities already exist and remain underused.
Ship recycling yards in the European Union continue to operate well below capacity, demonstrating that viable alternatives to beaching are available but systematically overlooked by the shipping sector.
Emerging regional strategies, including those focused on strategic autonomy in raw materials, have renewed attention on scrap steel, bringing ship recycling into sharper focus as a source of high-quality materials. highlighted Benedetta Mantoan, Policy Officer, NGO Shipbreaking Platform
