New legislation on the scrapping of old EU registered ships voted through by MEPs today will not ensure an end to risky and polluting practices.

"This Regulation is lacking. For ship-owners it has always been the case that it is financially more interesting to ‘recycle’ ships in places where sound environmental and health safety standards are not respected. This Regulation will not solve the problem as there are no provisions for incentivising ship-owners to follow sound ship recycling practices," said GUE/NGL MEP Sabine Wils after the vote.

"Last year alone at least 265 European ships were recycled under very bad working and environmental conditions on beaches in South Asia. Unfortunately, the outcome of this vote is not sufficient for tackling this issue appropriately: we need strict rules to make dismantling on beaches impossible."

"However, the common practice known as 'beaching' which is the dismantling of ships on the beach will still be possible despite the practice's poor safety and environmental record and its history of toxic spills," Wils concluded.