30 June 2006

Ship Recycling: - Data Management

The upcoming IMO-Instrument on Ship Recycling requires, among other things, a compendium of detailed information related to built-in materials, which must be kept up-to-date during the entire operating life of a ship. Germanische Lloyd assists her customers through the establishment of an appropriate format.

Single List and Inventory

The core of the above mentioned compendium would be the “inventory”, which is analogous to a Hazardous Materials blueprint. With this inventory, the location of built-in components containing hazardous materials can easily be determined. The “Single List” provides a listing of which materials are considered potentially dangerous. All components must be checked against the Single List, and as soon as one of the mentioned materials is found to be contained in a component, further information related to the type and the amount of the hazardous material must be included in the inventory. If none of the mentioned materials are present, this fact must be documented by the manufacturer in the form of an assurance certificate. Information that is gathered during the planning and/or building phase of a new ship, and during new installation of components, is to be included. The inventory must be kept upto-date, in large part onboard ship, throughout the operating life of the ship as it will be reviewed during, among other things, inspections and before recycling.

Requirements for Shipyards and Suppliers, Data Management

Shipyards will be required to produce the inventories for new and refitted ships.  In this regard, they will be dependent on information provided by suppliers. For this reason, GL recommends a structured gathering of information so that later requirements will be more easily met. Only in this way can a system, which provides information for safe and environmentally appropriate ship recycling, be implemented while maintaining reasonable costs, and while following legal requirements.

The overview looks like the following:


The Following procedures are recommended by GL: 

- Send background information (ex. this newsletter) to suppliers / manufacturers with a current Single List

- Require specific information about materials/components from the above in a specified format

- Information to be provided by suppliers/manufacturers:
  • Listing of any additional international recycling guidelines for the supplied products
  • Listing of the relevant contents (name, type, amount, etc.), and in the case of mixed materials, the corresponding breakdown and/or specific properties
  • In case of missing information details, a certificate should be provided using “best available knowledge”, and complete details should be supplied when available
  • Absence of listed materials is to be documented by the manufacturer in the form of an assurance certificate
- Collection and maintenance of the data in an IT-supported Inventory-Systems in the shipyard:
  • Relating hazardous materials to components in locations and / or systems
  • Link the data with maintenance sofware (in the future)
Source: Germanischer Lloyd. Suggestions for Shipyards and Suppliers, June 2006