OREANDA-NEWS. June 29, 2010. The Latvian Shipping Company (LK) is rejecting claims that a tanker which it owns, the Mar, is causing environmental damage, as has been reported in the world’s media.  LK is selling the ship, which is currently in India.  The ship is carrying no cargo, and there is nothing about it that could harm the environment. The ship is made of materials that were permitted back when it was built.

 “The Mar has all of the necessary documents to deliver it to India and then, in accordance with international practice, to sell it to a company that will cut it up into scrap metal,” says LK board chairman Imants Sarmulis.

 LK has undergone a consistent programme of modernising its tanker fleet in recent years, both because the company is concerned about the environment and because it wants to be more competitive. As result of it older ships have been replaced with more modern tankers.