As European owners try to find EU compliant ship recycling facilities, International Shipbreaking Ltd (ISL) in the US has completed processing its vessel from the region.
The ship was the Norwegian-flagged, 16,000 dwt chemical tanker, Wolverine, that was recycled at at ISL’s facility in Brownsville, Texas. ISL has invested $30m in its facilities, in order for them to be compliant with the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SRR).
This makes the US yard an unexpected option for EU-flagged owners, that want to find compliant ship recycling facilities outside South Asia.
The Wolverine arrived at the US facility during January, with ISL managing to recycle 97% of the vessel, while the ship was disposed of in compliance with the EU SRR.
Currently, ISL has the capacity to safely moor vessels of over 366 metres in length and 48 metres beam for recycling.
The capacity to recycle these large ships in a safe and responsible manner is available to EU shipowners
said Chris Green, Senior Manager at ISL, adding that ISL completed the MT Wolverine ship recycling project without any recordable injuries, hazardous or regulated material spills, or regulatory violations of any kind.
By investing $30 million in the latest technology, equipment and infrastructure, our business has become the first in the US to be able to recycle ships to a level compliant with the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SSR). MT Wolverine shows that this effort and commitment is paying off
Mr. Green concluded.
EU Ship Recycling Regulation
On 2013, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted the Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SRR). The aim of this regulation is to reduce the negative impacts linked to the recycling of ships flying the flag of Member States of the Union. The Regulation establishes requirements that ships and recycling facilities have to fulfil in order to ensure that ship recycling takes place in a sound environment and safe manner.
