Yard association official Nitin Kanakiya
says recyclers are mulling various ‘options’ to enable them to meet the new
European Ship Recycling Regulation
Indian shipbreakers’ leader, Nitin
Kanakiya, claims that the world’s top vessel-recycling complex at Alang can
meet strict requirements enabling the continued scrapping of European-flag
ships on the subcontinent.
A potential ban by the European
Commission (EC) on beaching ships for demolition stems from a new Brussels
regulation that refers to the use of a “built structure” when dismantling
vessels and a non-permeable floor to prevent the leakage of hazardous
substances.
Beaching accounts for 70% to 75% of all
ship scrapping and a European ban would come as a blow to the Indian
subcontinent, although owners could still side-step such a clampdown by
reflagging end-of-life tonnage.
Kanakiya, who is honorary secretary of
the Ship Recycling Industries Association (India), brushes aside talk of a
doomsday scenario by insisting that Indian recycling yards, of which there are
currently 140 operating, are considering “options” to meet the European Ship
Recycling Regulation (SRR).
Speaking on the sidelines of TradeWinds’
Ship Recycling Forum in Singapore, attended by a delegation of around 46 Indian
shipbreakers, Kanakiya said that while there are no plans for concrete
slipways, there are instead proposals to construct an area where oil tanks and
other sections can be taken and cut without leakage.
A further option is installing rubber
sheeting below the sand.
Kanakiya says “built structures” sound
impractical but the options being considered by the recyclers would achieve the
same objectives sought by Brussels, namely to stop leakages into the soil in
the intertidal zone.
He concedes that the problem at Alang is
the fact that individual plots are often small, some 60 with only a seafront of
less than 50 metres.
“But we are open to change and we will
employ whatever is best and economically feasible,” said Kanakiya.
He says India has already adopted most
provisions set out by the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally
Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC).
“If we come up with a feasible economic
option then I believe nobody is going to stop us,” said Kanakiya. “We will
address the requirements, not the terminology.”
He says Indian shipbreakers have never
demanded aid to develop facilities and do not want to because of the terms that
would be attached. The recyclers are prepared to invest themselves, he claims.
Quizzed on how many Alang breakers will
be capable of meeting the European regulation for inclusion on its approved
list of yards to scrap EU-flag tonnage, Kanakiya says currently just four yards
are being promoted.
He argues that most Indian yards should
be capable of eventually meeting the regulations. There are ways and means of
bridging the “gap” with what Europe requires, he adds.
Kanakiya says a bigger threat is that the
SRR fails and that is the reason India is pushing its case.
“That is why we are here [in Singapore]
with a huge delegation of 46,” he said.
“We want to create history with the help
of the TradeWinds [forum]. If we can do something constructive here, then
fine.”
Among those speaking at the recycling
forum this week was Emilien Gasc, policy officer at the EC’s
Directorate-General for the Environment.
He says it is the intention to publish
the list of approved recycling yards in the second half of 2015, “which gives
us time to come up with the guidance” and for facilities to assess whether they
have a chance of being included.
“We have every intention of making the
regulation work and if there is a strong indication it will not, we will have
time to reflect,” said Gasc.
The SRR does not mention beaching, only
technical requirements that have to be achieved. “The door to adapting is
open,” he told TradeWinds.
This article by Geoff Garfield was
published in TradeWinds on March 7, 2014
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Source:
TradeWinds Events. 8 March 201
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