The Vietnamese government is introducing a law that is aimed at building
the country’s shipbreaking industry amid claims that it will create serious
environmental issues. The revised Law on Environmental Protection is due to
take effect on January 1, 2015 and it will allow the import of ships intended
for demolition.
According to VNS, Duong Thanh An, director of the Department of Policy
and Legal Affairs of the Viet Nam Environmental Administration, has stipulated
that importers will be required to prepare an application package that includes
an environmental protection dossier. The dossier includes a declaration of the
actual state of the ship, a written commitment to abide by environmental
standards and a copy of the ship yard's certificate of satisfaction of
environmental protection conditions. "Environmental damage insurance is
also a must," An said.
The country’s maritime administration has indicated that a ship recycling
industry would generate high quality input for the local steel industry. In
2012, Vietnam imported around four million tons of scrap steel, mostly from
China. Since 2012, the need for steel imports has reportedly increased by 2.5
million due to a number of new steel companies entering the market, says VNS.
The maritime administration’s director Nguyen Nhat says the new law will
boost the local economy and create new opportunities for the shipbuilding
industry which is experiencing low activity levels at present.
Do Thai Binh, a shipbuilding engineer from HCM City's Marine Science and
Technology University argues that the industry would be beneficial to the
environment as it involves the re-use of over 95 percent of a ship. However,
Binh stresses the importance of the law. "The regulations shouldn't be
only those on paper. Recycling enterprises should be inspected carefully to
determine how best to deal with toxic waste from the ships," he told VNS.
Professor Pham Ngoc Dang, Vice President of the Viet Nam Association for
Environment and Nature Protection, has warned about the threats of toxic wastes
such as oil, asbestos and heavy metals like mercury, lead, copper, zinc,
aluminium and iron.
Deputy Minister of Transport, Nguyen Van Cong, said that businesses
engaging in shipbreaking will have to satisfy all the legal conditions for
capacity, experience and environmental protection.
Source: maritime-executive. 15
October 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment