Ask someone in the United
States what happens to ocean-going ships at the end of their service life and
they’ll likely describe National Geographic pictures of ships on beaches in
some foreign country, with sandal-clad workers using hammers and cutting torches
to take them apart. However, these recycling methods are destined to become a
relic of the past. The future will be one where workers wear appropriate safety
equipment. It will also be one where ships are not simply driven onto a beach.
And it will be one largely driven by changes mandated by the European Union.
The future began in 2009
when the International Maritime Organization adopted the Hong Kong Convention
for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. The goal of the
convention is to ensure that ships are dismantled in conditions that do not
pose “unnecessary risk to human health and safety or to the environment.”
Surprisingly, the convention does not ban beaching. It will only enter into
force twenty-four months after ratification by fifteen states, representing
forty percent of world merchant shipping by gross tonnage, and combined maximum
annual ship recycling volume not less than three per cent of their combined
tonnage.
Norway was the first country
to ratify the convention. Congo, France, Belgium, Panama, and Turkey followed
suit, and on May 9, the Danish Parliament passed a law enabling Denmark to
ratify it. Unfortunately, these seven countries aren’t enough, and more
countries must act to bring the Hong Kong Convention into force.
The slow pace of the
convention’s ratification has allowed the European Union to become the new
standard-bearer for change. In 2013, the EU passed a regulation wherein all EU
flagged ships are required to be dismantled in EU-approved facilities. The
first list of approved facilities was released in December 2016, and all were
within the EU.
When the list was released,
the European Community Shipowners’ Associations immediately questioned why
non-EU facilities were left off. “Approximately 150 container vessels were sent
for recycling in 2016, the current EU list would cater for only 16 smaller
container vessels . . . We thus strongly encourage the Commission to enlarge
the list to non-EU facilities as soon as possible,” the association said in a statement.
There is a strong likelihood
the EU will certify some non-EU facilities but not all of them, especially
those that employ beaching methods. And
that’s why India, Bangladesh, China, Pakistan, and Turkey are paying attention. These countries dismantle the majority of the
world’s ships and many of their facilities still employ the beaching method.
The French environmental
advocacy group Robin Des Bois estimates that in the first quarter of 2017, “225
ships out 240 were being demolished in India, in Bangladesh, in Pakistan, in
China and in Turkey . . . [and only] 5 ships are being broken up in European
facilities.”
In the United States,
President Donald J. Trump has issued several executive orders that benefit the
US ship recycling industry. Specifically, President Trump directed that
pipelines be built with US steel. There is a lot of steel in obsolete U.S.
commercial and military ships, and it can be re-used to make pipes. The Steel
Manufacturers Association and the Specialty Steel Industry of North America
estimate that the U.S. steel industry recycled 70 millions tons of scrap last
year, conserving energy and reducing the burden on landfills.
So what will the remainder
of 2017 look like for ship recyclers? First, the EU will continue to set the
standards for world-wide dismantlement. China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and
Turkey will seek EU certification of their ship recycling facilities
highlighting their new environmental and safety measures. And the United States
will implement the President’s “America First” strategy and the steel from
dismantled commercial and military ships will be used in infrastructure
projects. All of these efforts will produce a worldwide ship recycling industry
that is safer for workers, the environment and the world.
Source:
maritime
executive. 24 May 2017
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