Normally, when a ship is recycled in an environmentally friendly way, the workers conducting the job must wear protective clothing, helmets and safety glasses. They should also use oxy-fuel torches to cut through the thick steal piece by piece down to the keel area of the ship. Nevertheless, ships are often disassembled on beaches by people who such clothing or take any other safety measures, Hapag Lloyd notes.
According to the company, one reason for this is that there still aren’t any globally agreed standards that shipping companies must adhere to. In fact, during 2017, 835 ships of the global fleet of 50,000 vessels were recycled.
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Currently, the main issue regarding eco-friendly ship recycling is the shipyards themselves, as there are few of them in the EU states that are certified according to EU standards. Nonetheless, before the EU Ship Recycling Regulation entered into force on 31 December 2018, the European Commission included three yards outside the EU: two in Turkey and one in the United States.
In updating the list, the key factor was the total LDT (light displacement tonnes) capacity of all yards. However, most of the shipyard docks on the list are too small and could not accommodate a 4,400 TEU ship. What is more, Chinese shipyards will only recycle ships under Chinese flag.
Commenting on this, Hapag Lloyd said that the extension of the list of recognised yards is an important step, but not enough. The company supported the EU’s decision to visit progressive shipyards in India that are already certified by a leading classification society according to the 2009 Hong Kong Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships. However, the final assessment of the EU member states is still pending.
Trying to achieve a sustainable and safe ship recycling, in December 2018, the Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative (SRTI) launched an online platform to draw attention to these practices.
The initiative draws attention to the issue by increasing transparency and to raise stakeholders’ awareness about recycling practices over the life cycle of a ship. In the future, it is hoped that more shipping companies will decide to recycle their vessels in an eco-friendly manner.
