EU Ship Recycling Regulation enters into force

On 30 December, 2013

The EU Regulation on Ship Recycling will enter into force on 30 December, 2013.

The new EU Regulation will allow ships flying the flag of an EU member state to be scrapped outside the EU provided that strict standards are met. These standards effectively mean the end of “beaching” where ships are simply taken apart on a beach, with consequences for human health and the environment. In future, EU-registered ships will have to be dismantled in EU-approved ship recycling facilities which must fulfilspecific requirements, be certified and be regularly inspected.

Non-EU ships, as well as EU ones, will be covered by the regulation insofar as they will have to carry aninventory of hazardous materials when calling at EU ports. Enforcement measures, including penalties, are to be set by member states. The regulation will apply to ships at the earliest 2 years and at the latest 5 years after its entry into force, the eventual date depending upon when the recycling capacity of facilities on the EU list exceeds a threshold of 2.5 million light displacement tonnes.

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Earlier this year, the European Parliament (EP) adopted at plenary session in Strasbourg a legislative resolution on a new Ship Recycling Regulation by a large majority of the votes

The purpose of this Regulation is to prevent, reduce, minimiseand, to the extent practicable, eliminate accidents, injuries andother adverse effects on human health and the environmentcaused by ship recycling. Also, EU Regulation aims toenhance safety, the protection of human health and of theUnion marine environment throughout a ship′s life-cycle, inparticular to ensure that hazardous waste from such shiprecycling is subject to environmentally sound management.

This Regulation lays down rules to ensure the propermanagement of hazardous materials on ships and will facilitate the ratification of theHong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009 (‘the Hong KongConvention”)

The regulation is mostly aligned with the IMO Hong Kong Convention on Ship Recycling (the Hong Kong Convention) but some aspects differ. There was a general expectation that the regulation would require EU member states to ratify the Hong Kong Convention, but it only “authorises” member states to ratify parts of it.

Lloyd’s Register issued today a relevant Statutory Alert summarizing the key aspects of t he Regulation as follows:

The regulation requires the establishment of a list of approved ship recycling facilities (the ‘EU list’) which meet the design, construction and operation requirements of the EU but may be anywhere in the world. EU facilities will be approved by national authorities and non-EU facilities by independent verifiers. The list is expected not later than 31 December, 2016.
EU-flagged ships will be required to engage a recycling facility from the EU list to prepare a ship recycling plan prior to recycling. This requirement will not apply until six months after the list includes sufficient capacity.
An inventory of hazardous materials (IHM) will be required for all ships entering EU ports, as well as for EU-flagged ships. Newbuilds will need an IHM not later than 31 December, 2018. Ships going for recycling will need an IHM as soon as the EU list is published, but not before 31 December, 2014.
The requirements for an IHM are expected to be more onerous than for the Hong Kong Convention’s IHM, specifically concerning accuracy and comprehensiveness. Guidance is expected to be produced by the European Commission on implementation.
The regulation provides clarity on the movement of ships to be recycled by amending the European Waste Shipment Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006) and declaring it not applicable to ships.

Learn more information by reading theEU Ship Recycling Regulation