Demolition market specialist Ed McIlvaney has warned of a potential environmental disaster unless the European Commission approves the use of shiprecycling yards in the Indian sub-continent and China.

He says more areas of the world could become dumping grounds “where old ships are left to simply rot away”.

McIlvaney’s analysis of ship scrapping in 2017 shows that only 39 vessels of 83,077 dwt — or 61,300 ldt — were sold for recycling in European Union countries.