More than half the vessels were dismantled in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, accounting for 66 per cent of the total tonnage.
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The vast majority of EU-owned and EU-flagged ships continue to be dismantled outside Europe, with a significant share ending up in India (in Gujarat’s Alang), Bangladesh and Pakistan, despite sufficient ship recycling capacity within the European Union, according to a new study by NGO Shipbreaking Platform and Transport & Environment (T&E).The report said between 2019 and 2025, a total of 706 EU-flagged and/or EU-owned ships were dismantled worldwide. Only 22 per cent were recycled at facilities located in the EU, accounting for just 5 per cent of the total tonnage, according to the report.More than half the vessels were dismantled in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, accounting for 66 per cent of the total tonnage. Most of the remaining ships were recycled in Turkey.Key findingsThe NGOs said the findings reflected a failure of EU industrial policy, as valuable steel and other recoverable materials were being lost to markets outside Europe.“This is not just an environmental issue. It is a profound failure of EU industrial strategy,” said Philippine Bernard, Policy Officer at NGO Shipbreaking Platform.The report argued that European recycling facilities had sufficient capacity to handle all EU-owned vessels reaching the end of their operational lives. It also alleged that shipowners were circumventing EU regulations by changing vessel flags shortly before sending ships for recycling. It said 102 ships switched from an EU flag to another registry before dismantling.Industry sources, however, said ship recycling facilities should be judged on their compliance and actual performance rather than their geographical location.“It is not appropriate to characterise an entire geography as recycling ships under ‘poor conditions’. The real measure should be the standards and performance of the individual recycling facility,” said Anand Hiremath, CEO of the Sustainable Ship and Offshore Recycling Program.Nayeem Noor, Vice-President for Business Development at GMS, said India remained attractive because shipowners considered a combination of responsible recycling, regulatory compliance and the ability to maximise the residual value of vessels. “Capacity alone does not determine where an end-of-life vessel is recycled,” he said.India has developed a strong recycling ecosystem and a downstream market for recovered steel, machinery and reusable materials, allowing vessels to be recycled efficiently while maximising material recovery, Noor said.South Asia continued to account for a significant share of global ship recycling activity during the first half of 2026. India recycled 50 ships during the January-June period, while Bangladesh recycled 57 and Pakistan 10, he added.Published on September 2, 2026
