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Several companies investigated for suspicion of illegal disposal of scrap ships

The Hamburg public prosecutor's office was investigating several companies on suspicion of illegally dismantling three ships, the 'E.R. Hamburg', 'Florida I' and 'Alexandra Rickmers'. On Aug 25, 2021, investigators searched a total of seven commercial buildings and secured written documents and electronic data. The searched objects also included an Alster villa belonging to the Erck Rickmers Group. The shipowner rejected the allegations. The investigation was started on suspicion that the entrepreneurs had not properly scrapped the ships, but sold them in 2016 and 2017 - knowing that the buyers will take the ships to Pakistan to be dismantled on an unsecured beach to be scrapped there under environmentally hazardous circumstances. For Erck Rickmers the allegations were also about his reputation as a philanthropist and benefactor. In 2020 he founded the think tank “The New Institute”, which deals with social change. The catastrophic working and environmental conditions during the scrapping in Pakistan do not fit into the picture. Rickmers said, the company believed that it has complied with all regulations and has not violated the Waste Shipment Act. According to European law, scrap ships are considered hazardous waste that must be properly disposed of at certified scrapyards. Instead, the ships have been dismantled on Pakistani beaches, which do not comply with this. The Erck Rickmers Group only held 0.6 percent of the “E.R. Hamburg ”, but organized the sale for the investor group. In 2017, the ship was handed over to the new owners in Port Said, and later beached in Pakistan, which the sellers do not want to have anything to do with: "The continued operation of the ship after the sale was solely the responsibility of the buyer company," according to the Erck Rickmers group which cooperated with the investigators. The “Alexandra Rickmers” belonged to the shipping company Rickmers, which went bankrupt in 2017. Whether the sale of disused freighters outside of Europe was an “illegal shipment of waste abroad” within the meaning of the European Waste Shipment Act must now be legally clarified. If there is a conviction, there is a risk of a fine or imprisonment of up to five years. The investigation continues.

beached

Beached at Gadani 20.10.17

arrived Gadani anchorage

arrived Gadani anchorage 19.10.17