When Belgian authorities, acting under the auspices of the European Union (EU) Waste Shipment Regulation, arrested the 45,500-dwt car carrier Global Spirit (built 1987) in early June, the shipping industry was severely shaken.
The Liberian-registered vessel, controlled by the World Car Carriers joint venture between Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and Nissan Car Carriers, was supposed to drop off a cargo of vehicles in Africa and then head to India, where it would have been beached for recycling at Alang.
The
