When a
ship is sent to die, 95 per cent of its components live on. But the safety and
sustainability record of ship recycling yards could be improved. MARITIME
IMPACT explains how EU regulations aim to achieve this.
Every year
up to 1,500 ships are recycled to rejuvenate the world leet and reclaim
valuable materials such as steel, aluminium and copper. The majority of these
vessels are recycled in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China and Turkey.
Conditions
at shipbreaking yards vary. Personal protection equipment such as helmets,
shoes, gloves and masks is not always available. Hazardous materials, from
heavy metals to fuel oil, may leak into the sea and soil, polluting the area
and creating serious health hazards.
Radical
changes: Past efforts to regulate the handling and disposal of hazardous
materials (Basel Convention 1989) and to improve safety and environmental
standards in ship recycling (Hong Kong Convention 2009) have failed to produce
any tangible results.
“Progress
has been very slow. But the implementation of the European Ship Recycling
Regulation will bring about some radical changes over the next few years. It
applies to roughly 60,000 ships, about two-thirds of the global leet,” says
Gerhard Aulbert, Global Head of Practice Ship Recycling at DNV GL.
The
European Ship Recycling Regulation, in force since 30 December 2013, addresses
the environmental and health issues associated with ship recycling while
avoiding unnecessary economic burdens. Applicable to all EU-lagged vessels as
well as non-EU-lagged ships calling at or anchoring in ports within the
European Union, it accelerates implementation of the requirements of the Hong
Kong Convention and sets out responsibilities for shipowners and recycling
facilities both within the EU and in other countries.
One of the
cornerstones of the regulation is the socalled inventory of hazardous materials
(IHM). Every EU-lagged newbuild has to carry an inventory of all hazardous
materials contained in its structure and equipment plus a statement of
compliance, at the earliest by 31 December 2015 and at the latest by 31
December 2018.
If the
ship is to be recycled the IHM should be on board from the date when the
European list of ship recycling facilities is published, which is expected to
happen by the end of 2016.
Before a
ship is recycled, its owner must provide the recycling yard with ship-speciic
information and prepare a recycling plan. But Thomas Nigl, who investigated IHM
standards in his master’s thesis at DNV GL, cautions: “While IHMs are an
important step towards establishing safer and more environmentally friendly
ship recycling methods, much needs to be improved in terms of procedures.
Methodology discrepancies in the development of IHMs for newly built versus
existing ships have led to considerable differences in the quantities of
‘HazMats’ identiied on board.”
Too much
is left to the discretion of the individual HazMat expert, he points out. “The
industry needs deinitions and documentation for the development of IHMs and the
materials themselves. Standards and an effective control mechanism for material
declaration in the supply chain would also be desirable toensure that IHMs are
effective.”
Getting
approval for shipbreaking: A new
benchmarking system established by the EU regulation restricts recycling to
facilities approved by the European Union. “Methods such as beaching will most
likely be banned, and recycling facilities will have to obtain EU approval to
compete for European-lagged vessels,” explains Gerhard Aulbert.
Waste
disposal management, facility infrastructure, safety procedures and training
are key criteria for approval.
To reduce
pollution from leakage, recycling facilities need to dismantle vessels on paved
surfaces and install drainage systems. This could prove to be a challenge in
places such as Alang, India, where more than half of the world’s decommissioned
ships are scrapped. High tides and a naturally sloping beach make it easy to
haul ships onto the shore and carry out pre-cleaning and block breaking in
shallow water.
“These
kinds of practices cannot continue. I expect the number of recycling yards to
decrease because beaching will not prevail in the long run,” explains Aulbert.
Some ship recyclers have already upgraded their facilities to achieve
compliance with the EU regulation and gain competitive advantage.
“But many
facilities still violate the Basel Convention standards for disposal of
hazardous materials and have a long way to go.”
Several
owners are taking steps towards improved sustainability. “Hapag-Lloyd is one of
the companies that are developing IHMs for their newbuilds. But to date, only
ten per cent of ships recycled have an IHM on board,” Aulbert points out.
Based on
studies DNV GL conducted on smaller ship recycling facilities in Turkey, more
sustainable practices are expected to increase the costs of ship recycling by
about 17 euros per light displacement ton (LDT).
DNV GL
expects the IHM development to open up the avenue for shortening the value
chain of ship recycling, as the inventory also includes a ship’s valuable parts
– resulting in additional revenue forshipowners.
For
example, the EU regulation allows shipowners to have a vessel recycled by one
facility, but sell their steel globally “giving owners more independence from
recycling facilities regarding the proit from the ship,” says Aulbert. “Using
the list of EU-vetted facilities, shipowners will also have a better basis for
deciding which recycling yard to use and can ensure that their vessels are
scrapped in a sustainable way.”
Source: marine link. 1 January 2016
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