Shipping companies
are being strongly encouraged to use a new set of Transitional Measures to
ensure compliance with the Hong Kong Convention ahead of it coming into force.
Shipping companies
are being strongly encouraged to use a new set of Transitional Measures to
ensure compliance with the Hong Kong Convention ahead of it coming into force.
A broad coalition
of international shipping industry organisations has published new guide for
environmentally sound ship recycling – ‘Transitional Measures for Shipowners
Selling Ships for Recycling’.
The International
Chamber of Shipping (ICS), which led the inter-industry working group which
developed the measures, said that its purpose is to help ship owners ensure to
the greatest extent possible that their end of life ships will be recycled at
facilities that are compliant with the standards enshrined in the International
Maritime Organization (IMO) Hong Kong Convention, in advance of the global
regime entering into legal force.
The Transitional
Measures set out detailed advice on the preparation and maintenance of
inventories of hazardous materials, as required by the IMO Convention and a
separate new EU Regulation which has already entered in force and which has
implications for non-EU ships calling at EU ports.
The ICS said that
the guidelines also address measures which shipping companies are strongly
recommended to take now when selling end of life ships for recycling.
“The industry
accepts its responsibility to promote the safe and environmentally sustainable
disposal of ships in the world’s ship recycling yards, the majority of which
are located in developing countries,” said ICS Secretary General, Peter
Hinchliffe.
“Adherence to these
Transitional Measures should be seen as a sign of good faith prior to the entry
into force of the IMO regime. But they will also help companies avoid falling
foul of the separate EU ship recycling regime which started to take effect on
31 December and which is also relevant to ships flying non-EU flags,” he added.
The Transitional
Measures were originally issued by the industry immediately after the adoption
of the Hong Kong Convention in 2009, and have now been expanded to take account
of subsequent detailed guidance issued by IMO.
While the revised
Transitional Measures take account of the new EU regime, they also reaffirm the
shipping industry’s support for the earliest possible entry into force of the
IMO Convention.
“The Transitional
Measures demonstrate that the shipping industry is playing its full part. It is
disappointing that after six years the Hong Kong Convention has still only been
ratified by a handful of IMO Member States. Governments need to make this a far
more urgent priority if they are serious about improving conditions in ship
recycling yards on a global basis,” said Peter Hinchliffe.
In addition to ICS,
these new Transitional Measures have been developed with expertise from the
International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), BIMCO, IPTA,
Intercargo, Intertanko, OCIMF and the International Transport Workers’
Federation (ITF).
They are also being
supported by the Asian Shipowners’ Forum and the European Community Shipowners’
Associations (ECSA), the latter being closely engaged in the discussions
concerning the adoption and implementation of the EU Regulation.
The Transitional
Measures can be downloaded free of charge via the ICS website and printed
copies are being distributed via ICS national shipowners’ associations.
Read More
Europe's Toxic
Ships: How Poor Recycling Practices are Poisoning Asian Beaches
In 2012 more than
1300 ocean-going ships were sold for breaking. About two thirds of the ships
were simply run ashore on tidal beaches in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan...
NGO Calls Out Three
Italian Firms for Using Substandard Recycling Facilities
The NGO, Shipbreaking
Platform has denounced Italian shipping companies for their poor shipbreaking
practices and called upon them to take necessary actions to ensure the
sustainable recycling of their end-of-life fleet.
Singapore Urged to
Recycle Ships Safely and Not on South Asian Beaches
NGO, Shipbreaking
Platform, has called on Singapore-based ship owners to stop selling their
end-of-life s to beach-breaking yards in developing countries, but rather
demand clean and safe ship recycling.
Source: waste
management world. 5 January 2016
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