Tag: EU Regulation on Ship Recycling

The ship demolition industry is one of the fastest-growing industries. The inclination towards environment-friendly demolition of ships after their completion of the ship's service period is picking up pace, argues Mr Rohit Agarwal, Managing Partner at GUIDESHIP CONSULTING SERVICES LLP.

ICS, the International Shipsuppliers & Services Association (ISSA), BIMCO and the International HazMat Association (IHMA) have collaborated to develop a new guide to help both shipowners and ship suppliers comply with both the current EU Ship Recycling Regulations (EUSRR) and the Hong Kong Convention on Ship Recycling (HKC) where ratification is anticipated next year.

Firstly, introduced in 2019, the Hong Kong Convention still waits for its ratification and will enter into force 24 months after it has been ratified from 15 States, representing 40 per cent of the worlds’ merchant shipping by gross tonnage.

A report commissioned by BIMCO shows that while the EU list of approved ship recycling facilities continues to grow, new additions have not added significant capacity to meet the demands of the global shipping industry.

The European Union added three new yards and extending the authorization of two others to its list of approved ship recycling facilities.

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.

Sea Sentinels claims that ECSA supports "a controversial proposed amendment to the EU’s Waste Shipment Regulation that would effectively make it possible to recycle EU-flagged ships at non-OECD shipbreaking facilities in South Asia."

EU-flagged vessels intended to be scrapped whilst under EU jurisdiction, are no longer exempted from EU waste laws.

In an exclusive interview to SAFETY4SEA, Dr Nikos Mikelis, Non-executive Director, GMS, provides updates of the regulatory scheme surrounding ship recycling and the current situation in ship recycling yards.

The EU rules on ship recycling aim to make the process greener and safer. However, there are a lot of cases where the regulations are not followed by the book.