Ship recycling sector in Türkiye faces renewed scrutiny amid recent incidents

July 15, 2025, by Sara Kosmajac

The ship recycling industry in Türkiye has seen a wave of developments in recent months, drawing renewed scrutiny over safety practices, transparency, and environmental oversight, the Belgium-based NGO Shipbreaking Platform has shared.

According to the organization, the spotlight is once again on Aliağa, where controversies regarding the sale of shipbreaking yards, the arrival of a UK naval vessel and, most recently, the fire aboard the decommissioned FSO Sloug have drawn increased public concern and scrutiny.

On July 3 this year, a fire erupted on the decommissioned FSO Sloug, which had been left idle at the Simsekler yard in Aliağa for over two years. As understood, there were approximately 6,000 tons of petroleum still in its tanks at the time.

The ignition was reportedly triggered during cutting operations due to residual petroleum, which, as the NGO Shipbreaking Platform has stressed, would have been entirely preventable had the ship been cleaned and certified gas-free, in accordance with both Turkish and international law.

“When we visited the ship recycling region, everywhere was invisible in black smoke. Workers were still working in the area. The fire was the predictable result of regulatory failure and insufficient oversight,” Sonay Tezcan from the Workers’ Platform of the Aegean revealed.

As informed, the Chambers of Chemical and Environmental Engineers have also raised alarm bells over safety and environmental risks as another toxic warship arrived in Türkiye to be dismantled at the Leyal yard. The HMS Bristol, a 1967 British Navy destroyer, allegedly carried hundreds of asbestos parts, lead-based paint, organotin antifouling coatings, chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB)-containing equipment.

The Belgium-headquartered organization specified that the vessel’s Inventory of Hazardous Materials listed over 400 asbestos items, 283 kilograms of lead paint as well as 263.5 kilograms of toxic tributyltin (TBT), which is a banned compound found to be harmful to marine life. It was also reported that at least two workers at Leyal suffered from occupational diseases caused by the dismantling of this ship.

Shedding more insight, Selma Akdoğan, Chamber of Environmental Engineers in Izmir, highlighted: “The arrival of HMS Bristol in Aliağa reflects a broader systemic failure. No ship should be dismantled here without strict oversight and protective measures. We are deeply concerned about the safe handling of hazardous materials on board. In line with both national laws and international obligations, particularly the Basel Convention, HMS Bristol should never have been brought to Turkey.”

“It must be returned immediately. The UK Navy must adopt a transparent, sustainable ship recycling policy that protects the environment, public health, and workers’ rights,” Akdoğan added.

The scrutiny in Aliağa: The status quo and what the future could bring

In the midst of escalating public concern, a criminal complaint was filed in June by a coalition of civil society organizations that went against public authorities and ship recycling companies, exposing years of environmental monitoring and health data, drawn from EU inspection reports and official Turkish documents.

As divulged, the complaint was filed by EGEÇEP (Aegean Environmental and Cultural Platform Association), İzmir Medical Chamber, DGD-SEN (Union of Dock, Shipyard, and Shipbreaking Workers), İzmir Chamber of Chemical Engineers, and İzmir Living Spaces Initiative.

NGO Shipbreaking Platform has explained that the filing alleged widespread regulatory failure and systemic misconduct encompassing deliberate pollution, falsification of official documents, and abuse of public office. Key failures are said to have included a lack of ecological reviews, unsafe dismantling, poor waste management, false reporting as well as ongoing neglect of worker safety and public health.

“Through its operations, the Ship Recycling facility has deliberately caused environmental pollution and continues to operate without fulfilling the legally required occupational health and safety conditions. In this context, a thorough investigation and prosecution must be carried out to address and remedy these systematic violations,” Hülya Yıldırım, Attorney in Environmental Law, stressed.

As explained further, the ownership of the Aliağa Ship Recycling Zone also reached a ‘critical’ point, with the 20-year rental agreement with TOKİ (Housing Development Administration of Türkiye) expiring in mid-2026. This has sparked ongoing disagreements, while failed sale attempts stalled decisions on the land’s future. In February this year, Aliağa Municipality bought the property from a TOKİ-linked subsidiary for 10.06 billion TL (€ 221.3 million) excluding VAT.

It was stated that 80% of the acquisition process has been finalised, with full completion expected during summer this year.

The acquisition, however, quickly drew criticism over its murky process and lack of transparency, with questions swirling around how it was funded, what the land would be used for and why it was handed to APAŞ, the municipality’s petroleum subsidiary, rather than to the municipality itself. Critics also purportedly pointed to a troubling absence of transparency and parliamentary oversight.

Separately, as the NGO Shipbreaking Platform has cautioned, inspections have found 15,000 tons of hazardous waste improperly stored or buried in the zone, despite the fact that the municipality had vowed strict sanctions. Meanwhile, a group of ship recyclers has protested fines, foreclosures and demolition orders.

With scrutiny reaching a breaking point, the most recent reports suggest that the disputes are finally being resolved, as an agreement is understood to have been reached to transfer the land to the yards.

That said, as per the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, despite now owning the land, the municipality does not have more rights in environmental oversight.

Moreover, the waste dumping could have been detected much earlier had there been proper monitoring in place. In this sense, the Belgium-headquartered entity has stressed that the problems in Aliağa are rooted not in infrastructural shortcomings alone, but also improper environmental governance, including monitoring, regulation and accountability, regardless of property transfer.

In addition to this, the ongoing issues and misconduct in the ship recycling and shipbreaking sector(s) in countries like Türkiye paint the other side of the grim picture: the fact that these practices go directly against the Hong Kong Convention, which entered into force on June 26, 2025, mandating global standards for shipowners, flag states, and recycling yards to bring long-overdue accountability into the sector.

“We invite the Aliağa Municipality, along with the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, to work together in developing a clear, transparent, and enforceable roadmap for the future of Aliağa,” said Ekin Sakin, Policy Officer at the NGO Shipbreaking Platform.

“Environmental protection, worker safety, and alignment with international standards are necessary to ensure a just and sustainable transformation of the ship recycling industry in Türkiye,” she concluded.

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