Tag: Hong Kong Convention

The third member to ratify the Hong Kong International Convention According to International Maritime Organization (IMO), France became the third State to ratify the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships​, 2009 (following the Congo and Norway).The Convention is aimed at ensuring that ships, when being recycled after reaching the end of their operational lives, do not pose any unnecessary risks to human health, safety and to the environment.The Hong Kong Convention intends to address all the issues around ship recycling, including the fact that ships sold for scrapping may contain environmentally hazardous substances such as asbestos, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, ozone-depleting substances and others. It also addresses concerns raised about the working and environmental conditions at many of the world's ship recycling locations.Upon entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention, ships to be sent for recycling will be required to carry an inventory of hazardous materials, which will be specific to each ship. An appendix to the Convention provides a list of hazardous materials the installation or use of which is prohibited or restricted in shipyards, ship repair yards, and ships of Parties to the Convention. Ships will be required to have an ...

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform, a global coalition of organisations seeking to prevent dirty and dangerous shipbreaking practices worldwide, published the complete list of ships that were dismantled around in the world  in 2013. Of the 1213 large ocean-going vessels that were scrapped in 2013, 645 were sold to substandard beaching facilities in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh . Approximately 40% of these ships were EU-owned.  The new EU regulation on ship recycling entered into force on 30 December 2013. However, unless an economic incentive is added to it, the registration of European ships under flags of convenience will allow ship owners to sail around the new regulation and continue dumping their toxic ships in substandard facilities. End-of-life vessels contain toxic materials such as asbestos, heavy metals, PCBs and organic waste within their structures. South Asia has become a preferred dumping ground as environmental, safety and labour rights standards are poorly enforced there.  Ship owners are able to sell their ships to the beach breakers for considerably greater profit than if they were sold to clean and safe recycling facilities. "Whereas the number of dismantled ships remained nearly as high as in 2012, the number of beached ships dropped from 850 to ...

German and Greek Shipping Companies amongst the world's worst The NGO Shipbreaking Platform, a global coalition of organisations seeking to prevent dirty and dangerous shipbreaking practices worldwide, published the complete list of ships that were dismantled around in the world in 2013.Of the 1213 large ocean-going vessels that were scrapped in 2013, 645 were sold to substandard beaching facilities in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh . Approximately 40% of these ships were EU-owned. The new EU regulation on ship recycling entered into force on 30 December 2013. However, unless an economic incentive is added to it, the registration of European ships under flags of convenience will allow ship owners to sail around the new regulation and continue dumping their toxic ships in substandard facilities.End-of-life vessels contain toxic materials such as asbestos, heavy metals, PCBs and organic waste within their structures. South Asia has become a preferred dumping ground as environmental, safety and labour rights standards are poorly enforced there. Ship owners are able to sell their ships to the beach breakers for considerably greater profit than if they were sold to clean and safe recycling facilities."Whereas the number of dismantled ships remained nearly as high as in 2012, the number of ...

Construction of the second of two new environmentally friendly cruise ferries that Fjord Line has ordered from Bergen Group Fosen has come so far that the ship could be tested out recently in the Trondheim Fjord. Interior fitting and finishing work on the new MS Bergensfjord has proceeded faster than expected. "As a result we have used the last five days to test the gas engines and other equipment to ensure they are operating properly," says CEO Ingvald Fardal. Fjord Line started sailing with the first of the two new cruise ferries, MS Stavangerfjord, in July this year. When MS Bergensfjord is put in regular service in the spring, the company will have almost daily departures year round on two large, modern and environmentally friendly cruise ferries on the routes between Bergen, Stavanger and Hirtshals, and between Hirtshals and Langesund. "The ships are identical and the lessons we learned when MS Stavangerfjord was put into operation came in handy during the running in of all the technical equipment on MS Bergensfjord. Work at the shipyard has gone very well in the fall, so we have plenty of time to ensure that all equipment is working and that all operational procedures ...

ClassNK has issued Technical Information TEC - 0978 regarding the new EU Regulation on Ship Recycling which entered into force on December 30, 2013

On Thursday 5 December, just five days before the new EU Ship Recycling Regulation was published, ship recyclers from Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, Lithuania, Spain and Sweden participated to the first green ship recycling conference organised by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform to discuss the future of their industry.

ClassNK issues Ship Recycling Certification to Jiangsu Changrong Steel : Fourth recycling facility to be comply with Hong Kong Convention

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

ClassNK : First Statement of Compliance for Ship Recycling Facility

On 30 October the Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER I) has found an agreement on a compromise text for a Council decision supporting the ratification of the Hong Kong Convention - the Proposal for a Council Decision concerning the ratification of or the accession to the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound recycling of ships, 2009, in the interests of the European Union.