Tag: ship- recycling

GMS has welcomed recent news that two ship recycling yards in Alang , India have been issued Statements of Compliance (SoC) by ClassNK.This confirms that the yards – Kalthia and Priya Blue Industries – comply with the technical standards of Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. Both facilities are located in Alang, Gujarat, India, and are the first ship recyclers in South Asia to gain such recognition.GMS has long been a supporter of recycling yards in Alang and was instrumental in organising a 14-strong Japanese industry and government delegation visit to India earlier in the year so that officials could see for themselves the improvements being made by some of the more forward-thinking ship recycling yards.A separate visit, also organised by GMS, hosted a delegation from the Danish Shipping Association (DSA) to witness those improved yards. The visit helped the DSA make the important distinction between yards that use beaching and comply with the Hong Kong Convention on Ship Recycling and those that do not.Dr Anil Sharma founder and CEO of GMS said:“I am so pleased that both these yards have finally won Hong Kong Convention status. This really does prove beyond doubt ...

 ClassNK  has issued Statements of Compliance (SoC) to two ship recycling facilities in Gujarat, India, R. L. Kalthia Ship Breaking Pvt. Ltd. and Priya Blue Industries Pvt. Ltd. , verifying that the facilities are in line with the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009 (HKC). Although the HKC has yet to enter into force, Kalthia and Priya Blue have both carried out substantial improvements to their facilities in a bid toward safer and greener ship recycling as well as developed the Ship Recycling Facility Plans (SRFPs) required for a competent authority’s certification according to the HKC. ClassNK reviewed the SRFPs prepared by Kalthia and Priya Blue, which comply with requirements of the HKC, and confirmed that their ship recycling processes follow their respective SRFPs in addition to conducting on-site inspections before issuing the SoC. This marks the first time SoC have been issued to ship recycling facilities in South Asia. The SoC are issued based on purely technical verifications of the facilities by ClassNK, which has so far done the same for ship recycling facilities around the world. ClassNK will continue encouraging safe and environmentally sound ship recycling in accordance with the HKC through ...

 The NGO Shipbreaking Platform applauds US shipping company Matson, Inc. for committing to recycle its old ships only in responsible yards in the future. This decision is significant, as 23 vessels in the Matson fleet have to be dismantled in the coming years.This decision comes in the aftermath of the Platform’s US-based member organisation Basel Action Network (BAN) having revealed and strongly criticized the sale of the Matson owned HORIZON TRADER for substandard scrapping in India. The vessel will soon be beached in Alang. The Platform and BAN call on All Star Metals of Brownsville, Texas, the last holder of HORIZON TRADER, to return the ship and ensure the clean and safe recycling of the vessel.The HORIZON TRADER, a 42 year-old US flagged container ship was acquired by Matson when they purchased Horizon Lines late last year. A decision was then made to scrap the vessel and it was delivered to the All Star Metals ship recycling facility in Brownsville, Texas in January 2015. BAN obtained the original Horizon Lines Memorandum of Agreement for the sale of the HORIZON TRADER, which stipulated that the buyer would responsibly recycle the vessel in the U.S.Shipbreaking yards in India operate under dangerous and ...

 The NGO Shipbreaking Platform calls for urgent action to stop dangerous working conditions after four workers died following a gas cylinder explosion in a shipbreaking yard in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The condition of four more workers is still critical, after suffering severe burn injuries in the blast. The accident happened on 5 September 2015 at the Shital Ship Breaking yard, a yard that was only established in 2011.“This terrible accident and the deaths of the workers are painful reminders of the dangerous working conditions that are prevalent at the shipbreaking yards of Bangladesh,” said Muhammed Ali Shahin, coordinator of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform in Bangladesh.“Continued lack of proper procedures, adequate infrastructure and equipment, and sufficient training, are the root causes for such deadly accidents. We demand that all yard owners and the relevant authorities push for drastic change and ensure a safe and sound working environment in the yards. The yard management must be held responsible.”According to the yard management, the eight workers were hit by the cylinder blast when they were getting ready for work, reported local media.Three of the workers only received only basic care and were sent back home. Later they were admitted to the Chittagong Medical College ...

 Environmental, human and labour rights organisations denounce Polish government-owned shipping company POLSTEAM for its poor shipbreaking practices and call upon POLSTEAM to take the necessary action concerning its ship recycling practices as a matter of urgency. The NGO Shipbreaking Platform and the European Environmental Bureau, and the more than 160 environmental, human and labour rights organisations they represent, together with Polish NGOs Fundacja Instytut na rzecz Ekorozwoju and Towarzystwo na Rzecz Ziemi, have sent a letter to POLSTEAM asking the company, and the government, to change its practices. “As an EU Member State owned shipping company, POLSTEAM should set an example and adhere to a ship recycling policy that is in line with EU standards and legislation. It is a disgrace to have a Polish state owned company listed amongst the top dumpers of toxic end-of-life ships on the beaches of developing countries,” said Patrizia Heidegger, Executive Director of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform.Whilst new European Union legislation clearly disqualifies shipbreaking on tidal beaches as environmentally sound and safe and more ship owners join the group of those that do not want to be associated with dangerous and polluting practices, POLSTEAM has already this year sold three end-of-life vessels to South Asian beaching ...

  On Monday 20th of April 2015, Michael Grey of Lloyds List published the article "Name-calling bullies" where he outlined his opposition to the idea of banning beaching and gave reasons why such a decision would be impractical and unethical for the ship recycling industry. In fact, throughout his article he stressed the improvements of safety and environmental standards which have taken place in facilities in the Indian subcontinent and highlighted the fact that these improvements had been witnessed during a fact-finding visit to Alang, India, by a delegation of Japanese industry and government officials organised by GMS. To quote the article directly: "The visit, which was organised by the cash buyer Global Marketing Systems, was able to see the improvements that were being made and which could be more widely spread around the whole subcontinental recycling sector.” In his article there are few other arguments worth highlighting, including that if the decision is taken to ban beaching, there would be a limited capacity of yards to carry out recycling; IMO's efforts through the Hong Kong Convention to promote the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships; and the 40,000 jobs associated with the industry of ship recycling in the ...

  The NGO Shipbreaking Platform, a global coalition of 19 environmental, human rights and labour rights organisations campaigning for safe, clean and just ship recycling worldwide, came together for its annual general meeting in Izmir, Turkey. Members and representatives from organisations based in Europe and South Asia, where the largest shipbreaking countries are located, participated in the meeting. Moreover, external experts such as prominent lawyers and labour rights activists joined the meeting in order to discuss the current situation of the global ship recycling industry. The Platform visited the ship recycling yards located in Aliaga, Turkey. In light of the discussions surrounding the application of yards to become approved under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, the Platform will issue a briefing paper on ship recycling in Turkey. All facilities in Turkey are expected to apply for the list of approved ship recycling facilities which the European Commission will publish by mid-2016. The Platform discussed with the members of the Turkish ship recyclers association which challenges they have to face in order to become EU-listed, such as persisting gaps in occupational health and safety provisions. The objective of the Regulation is to reduce the negative impacts linked to the recycling of ...

European, Turkish and Chinese ship breakers are set to benefit from strict new EU laws on scrapping old ships, potentially significantly impacting South Asian beach scrap yards. Of 1,026 ocean-going ships scrapped in 2014, 641 were broken up on beaches in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, according to figures from the NGO Shipbreaking Platform. Cargo ships and cruise liners that have reached the end of their useful life are driven at full speed onto beaches and stripped down by hundreds of unskilled workers using simple tools with little health and safety measures or environmental protections. Chemicals routinely leak into the ocean when the tide comes in and there is a huge human cost, according to the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, which estimates that during the last 20 years 470 workers have been killed in Alang-Sosiya, the world’s largest stretch of ship-breaking beaches. Almost half of all scrapped ships are sent to the beaches of Alang, known as the graveyard of all ships. Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for the Environment and Maritime Affairs, says “the shameful practice of European ships being dismantled on beaches” will be ended with the introduction of the new law. The measure will require that ...

Ship recycling yards in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh need to be part of the global scheme of sound ship recycling and those yards in Alang which have invested in fully upgrading their facilities to meet the terms of internationally-agreed rules should be rewarded by winning more business. This was the view expressed by Akihiro Tamura, Director of Shipbuilding Policy at the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro), shortly after returning from a fact finding trip to Indian recycling yards in Alang.  The four-day visit, arranged in association with cash buyer Global Marketing Systems (GMS), was attended by a 14 strong Japanese industry and government delegation, which included officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; the Japanese Shipowners Association; Jetro; shipping companies K-Line and JX Ocean; ClassNK; Japanese Labour Union;  Japan Marine Science; as well as GMS.  The delegation visited Alang with the intention of assessing the quality of beach recycling yards in the region.  Welcoming the comments from the visit, Nikos Mikelis, Non-executive Director of GMS, said it was up to the shipping industry and the regulators to see the improvement in conditions themselves. “We have already invited legislators from the European Commission, maritime administrations, IMO, as well ...

IMO announces issues on the MEPC 67 agenda