“Seatrade is disappointed that the Rotterdam District Court has not followed Seatrade’s interpretation of the complex European Waste Shipment Regulations,” Cor Radings, a spokesperson for the company, told World Maritime News.
Seatrade’s position is that seaworthy vessels should not be considered waste and the company believes that the enforcement of the EU Waste Shipment Regulation was not the right tool to regulate ship recycling.
“As it stands, it is very likely the company will consider proceeding to The Hague Court of Appeal,” the company statement reads.
In line with yesterday’s verdict, Seatrade has been imposed with fines reaching up to EUR 750,000 (USD 924,000) and two of its executives have been banned from exercising the profession as director, commissioner, advisor or employee of a shipping company for one year. A third director has been acquitted.
However, the prison sentence, previously sought by the prosecution, has been waived.
“Seatrade has mixed feelings about the verdict. There is relief no jail sentences have been imposed which confirms the integrity of the company, its staff and the involved directors. However, at the same time there is surprise and disbelief over the fines and professional ban of two of its directors,” the company noted.
The conviction concerns the transfer of four reefer ships from the European Union to initially India. When these ships left the ports of Rotterdam and Hamburg in 2012, the intention was already to demolish the ships which makes the ships categorized as waste, despite the fact that they were still seaworthy, certified, insured and operational, the Rotterdam court said.
The court further determined that Seatrade knowingly sold the vessels for dirty and dangerous breaking in order to maximize profits.
在鹿特丹地方法院昨日裁定Seatrade有罪將船舶出售給印度並將其拆除後，該格羅寧根的所有者表示，將考慮其對潛在上訴的立場。
“Seatrade對鹿特丹地方法院沒有遵守Seatrade對複雜的歐洲廢物裝運條例的解釋感到失望，”該公司的發言人Cor Radings告訴世界海事報。
Seatrade的立場是，不應將適航的船隻視為浪費，公司認為執行歐盟廢物運輸條例並不是管理船舶回收的正確工具。
“公司聲明寫道，”目前，公司很可能會考慮前往海牙上訴法院。
根據昨天的裁決，Seatrade被罰款高達750,000歐元（924,000美元），並且其兩名高管被禁止行使作為船運公司的董事，專員，顧問或員工一年的職業。第三任董事已被無罪釋放。
然而，以前由檢方提出的監禁刑罰已經撤回。
“Seatrade對判決結果有不同的看法。有了救濟，沒有判處監禁刑罰，這證實了公司，其工作人員和所涉董事的誠信。然而，與此同時，對其兩名董事的罰款和專業禁令感到驚訝和不相信， “該公司指出。
該判決涉及將四艘冷藏船從歐盟轉移到最初的印度。鹿特丹法院表示，這些船在2012年離開鹿特丹和漢堡港口時，其意圖是拆除將船舶歸類為廢物的船舶，儘管事實上這些船舶仍然適航，通過認證，保險和運營。
法院進一步裁定，Seatrade為了獲得最大利潤故意將船舶骯髒而危險的銷毀。
Imformation Source: World Maritime News
