The Executive Board of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which is responsible for the investments of Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), has decided to revoke the exclusion of Thoresen Thai Agencies PCL from the fund.

The company has been excluded since 2018 due to its practice of sending decommissioned vessels to be broken up for scrap in Bangladesh, where working conditions are extremely poor. The company has not sent any more vessels to be broken up for scrap since 2018, and the basis for the exclusion is therefore no longer present.

The decision is based on a recommendation from the Council on Ethics of 12 May 2023.

Furthermore, the Executive Board has also decided to end the observation of Hyundai Glovis Co Ltd. The company was put under observation in 2022 due to its practice of sending decommissioned vessels to be broken up for scrap in Pakistan and Bangladesh, where working conditions are extremely poor.

The company has established a new policy for responsible disposal of decommissioned vessels, and the basis for observation is no longer present. The decision is based on a recommendation from the Council on Ethics of 12 May 2023.

“Norges Bank’s Executive Board has not independently assessed all aspects in the recommendations, but finds it adequately substantiated that the criteria for exclusion and observation have been fulfilled under the guidelines,” the bank stated.

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