The Norway Courts: If you lie to us about asbestos and ship breaking, you go to jail.

I don’t know the Norway legal system and nor do I have any insights into the judges who sit on this appeal court. However, being familiar with many other courts and judges, I am duly impressed.

The link to the entire 36 page, easy to read, decision is at https://theasbestosblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2022-Norway-Court-Decision-Asbestos_10102022.pdf.

The case involved a group of people and companies trying to export asbestos and other toxic wastes from Norway to Pakistan where the ship was to be broken up and salvaged. As stated in the decision:

“The case concerns complicity in an attempt to export waste from Norway without the necessary permits from the Norwegian Environment Agency.”

***

“The vessel contained piping, gaskets, compressors, flooring, insulation materials, wall sheets, doors, cabinets and windows which contained at least 0.1 percent asbestos in weight.”

The word “complicity” by the court should give the reader a good idea of what the judges thought about the Defendant working with the various companies to hide their true intent. In summary, the vessel Tide Carrier had become an albatross with no potential future use, but having a salvage value to a cash buyer of $5 million. This salvage value was seen by the vessel owner’s bank as low hanging fruit in an otherwise difficult financial time. The old saying about money talking drove everyone in the ownership, financial, and purchasing chain to overcome any concern about documentation and intent.

The judges go issue by issue until there is only one inescapable conclusion; jail time for the President of the company which owned the vessel. The decision is well thought out and addresses each and every element required to prove the misconduct. The judges included testimony from the NGO Shipbreakers Platform in Belgium as to how these types of cash sales take place and why the court could not take the vessel owner’s word at face value.

The two most relevant pages are as follows:

I encourage my readers to at least skim the decision. You will end up shaking your head with a newly found respect for these judges.

Let me know if you have any comments or questions either in the comments or by email at TheAsbestosBlog@gmail.com. Thanks. Marty