NGO urges for immediately removal of EU approvals for shipbreaking in Aliaga

In an open letter the European Commission, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform urge the commission to take immediate action to remove the EU approval of ship recycling facilities in Aliaga, Turkey, under Article 23 of the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, until changes are made to align the sector with existing EU and national environmental laws, occupational health and safety standards and labour rights.

The ship recycling sector in Aliaga, including facilities approved by the EU, fails to meet environmental protection and occupational health and safety standards. More than half of EU-flagged vessels are dismantled in Aliaga. Currently, 11 of the 22 ship recycling facilities in Aliaga are EU-approved. Additionally, five facilities have applied for approval.

The European Commission has approved practices in Aliaga that would never be accepted at ship recycling facilities located in an EU Member State. What is not allowed in the EU should not be accepted elsewhere as that amounts to deplorable double standards, the NGO states in the open letter, and list several specific violations. The majority of scrapped EU-owned RoPax and RoRo tonnage in the recent years, has been processed in Aliaga.

mar 14 2026