It seems that lately the all-consuming, requirements of 2020 sulphur cap are somehow overshadowing those of the Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) which are crucial for ensuring green and sustainable shipping as well, in the ship recycling field though. IHM is one of the most important documents in planning the recycling process of a ship.
Two men lost their lives and five other workers suffered severe burn injuries, after an explosion onboard the crude oil tanker ‘Bunga Kelana 4’, at the Chittagong shipbreaking area, namely at Mahinur Ship Breaking yard, in the early morning hours of Wednesday.
Ten years after the adoption of IMO’s Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, in May 2009, there has been progress with voluntary application of its requirements, but the treaty needs to enter into force for it to be widely implemented. For this reason, IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim urged Member States who have not yet ratified the Convention, to do so, in order to bring it into force as soon as possible.
ECSA launched a report of its fact-finding mission to o India’s ship-recycling facilities in Alang, in the State of Gujarat that took place from 25-27 February. The aim of the mission was to gain a better understanding of the possible threats to and opportunities for the Indian ship-recycling and European shipping industries.
The Marine Environment Protection Committee’s (MEPC), 74th session is scheduled to take place in 13-17 May 2019. The key subjects to be discussed will be adoption of amendments to IMO mandatory instruments, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships, implementation of the sulphur 2020 limit, marine plastic litter action plan, ballast water management Convention implementation, approval of guidance and other matters, technical cooperation and capacity building and seminar on ship recycling.
During the 2019 SAFETY4SEA London Forum, Mr. Andrew Stephens, Executive Director, Sustainable Shipping Initiative, presented the Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative (SRTI). The intent of the Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative was launched in March 2018 and consists of members from the SSI and of others outside the SSI.
The bulk carrier ‘Crystal Gold’ remains unmoved from its position polluting the environment at Chittagong’s Parki Sea Beach in Bangladesh, two years after it broke loose from its moorings and ran aground in heavy weather conditions.
There were a total of 181 ships broken in the first quarter of 2019, according to figures released by NGO Shipbreaking Platform. Of these, 142 ships were sold to the beaches of South Asia. Meanwhile, between January and March, three workers lost their lives and four were severely injured in Bangladesh.
BIMCO issued a report according to which only 9 out of 26 shipyards on the EU list of approved recycling facilities are realistically open for ship recycling. From the 26 shipyards, only 3 are in the position of recycling a large ship, as a Panamax-sized vessels or even larger.
In light of Maersk announcing its entrance in the ship recycling sector in Alang, the company has faced criticism on how it handled two independent cases to ship recycling. Therefore, the company responded to the ship recycling criticism, by making its ship recycling procedures stricter.
