Months after two Indian ship recycling yards got initial approval to be added to the European List of Ship Recycling Facilities (EUSRR) by the European Commission (EC), a parliamentary panel has now voted against it, which marks a setback for India's maritime sector.
The addition of the two Alang yards—Shree Ram Vessel Scrap Pvt Ltd/Shree Ram Shipping Industries Pvt Ltd (Plot no 78/81) and YSI Recyclers LLP (Plot No 59)—would have potentially made India the first non-OECD nation to have ship recycling yards listed by the EU.
On November 4, most lawmakers from the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety of the European Parliament (ENVI Committee) voted against the inclusion of the two yards in the 16th edition of the EU List, citing issues with their use of the "beaching method" to break down vessels.
However, the panel's vote, which now goes against European shipping interests, is not a final rejection, which means the EC will not have to withdraw its initial decision to add the yards into the prestigious list.
The rejection will again be put to a vote when the full European Parliament convenes later in November, at which time member states will also have a say in whether the two ship recycling yards can be added to the EU List or not.
The Alang yards, along with 27 others, had been part of India's push to get its ship recycling facilities included under the EUSRR framework.
This will finally allow ships carrying flags from EU nations to be recycled at these yards—joining a list of 41 facilities, including 30 in the EU, 10 in Turkey, and one in the US.
However, the lawmakers had claimed in their objection that the yards used beaching—the scrapping of ships on tidal mudflats—due to which they could not be accepted on the EU List, as they did not meet standards listed in the EUSRR for environmental and workers’ protection.
The same point had been made by NGOs who had earlier protested the EC decision to include the yards in the EU List, though European shipping interests—especially industry body ECSA—had warned that denying approval to facilities that had passed the assessment process would undermine the credibility of the regulations, as per a Splash247 report.
They also argued that downstream waste management at the two yards did not meet EU standards, and that exapnding the list of shipbreaking yards under the EUSRR itself was not needed, as these had enough capacity to dismantle all EU-flagged and EU-owned ships sent for recycling in recent years.
India's shipbreaking plans
These developments also come months after India emerged as the world's top ship recycling nation in 2025, as per the latest data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
The data showed a spike in the country's share in global ship recycling, jumping from 30.1 per cent in 2024 to 35.4 per cent in 2025. This reflects a jump from 1.86 million gross tonnes (GT) to 2.99 million GT over the same period.
The development of these yards—and their inclusion in the EU list—are part of India's goal to recycle about 16,000 ships over the next decade.
