The Council on Ethics recommends that Hyundai Glovis Co Ltd be placed under observation.
The basis for the Council’s assessment is that Hyundai Glovis has disposed of decommissioned vessels by sending them to be broken up for scrap on beaches in Pakistan and Bangladesh, a practice known as ‘beaching’, where working conditions are extremely poor. The process also causes severe environmental damage. The Council considers that by disposing of ships for scrapping in this way, the company can be said to contribute to serious human rights violations and severe environmental damage.
When assessing the risk that the company will contribute to such norm violations in the future, the Council has attached importance to the company’s statement that it will consider better ways to break up decommissioned vessels from now on.
The Council submitted its recommendation on 17 December 2021. Norges Bank published its decision to place the company under observation 7 March 2022.