THE American container shipping line, Matson, has agreed to stop beaching its ships for scrapping in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh following protests from eco-lobby Basel Action Network (BAN).

The decision will not change the fate of the Horizon Trader - an old Matson vessel now on its way to India, but it's significant with about 23 vessels in the Matson fleet which will require scrapping in the next few years, according to a BAN statement.

The breaking beaches provide needed employment to the ship breakers who do the work and the Indian Shipping Ministry has taken steps to upgrade practices that cause pollution and pose health risks.

Meanwhile, BAN and the NGO shipbreaking platform in Brussels, call on All Star Metals of Brownsville, Texas, the last holder of Horizon Trader, to return the ship to the US for proper recycling in their Brownsville ship recycling yard.

Shipbreaking practices in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh operate under dangerous and polluting conditions. According to the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), up to 20 per cent of the shipbreaking workforce in Bangladesh are children under the age of 15.

Last week there was an accident on a beach at Chittagong that killed four workers, said BAN. Five workers were killed in July, adding up to a reported nine deaths in less than two months, and over 200 deaths documented over the past five years, said its press release.

Matson said in a statement that they claimed they no longer had the authority to recall the Horizon Trader: "Because of concerns with recycling practices in South Asia, Matson has decided to prohibit recycling of its vessels in this region going forward."

In Europe, the Norwegian Shipowners' Association and its 160 members recently voted to prohibit Norwegian-owned ships to be scrapped on South Asian beaches.

The US government has likewise maintained a long-standing policy that requires its own ships to be recycled domestically and off the beaches. Ironically this stands in stark contrast to the fact that the US government allows private shipowners to legally reflag their vessels for disposal on foreign shipbreaking beaches.