RECYCLING OF SHIPS: IMO Current Awareness Bulletin, June 2011

Clear signs of progress:

"A legal expert says outside pressure is paying off as recycling yards bite the bullet. Demolition cash buyer Wirana Shipping Corp’s legal advisor, Shashank Agrawal, says most shipbreakers in India support international moves to raise standards in the demolition industry. His comments come at a time when evidence is emerging that the judiciary and governments in parts of the Indian subcontinent are finally responding to outside pressure to clean up the business."

By Geoff Garfield. TRADEWINDS, 9 June 2011, pp 24-25

Brussels set to bin Basel scrap ban:

"The European Commission is putting together a proposal to exempt ships from waste shipment regulations in a move that would effectively put an end to the Basel Convention - a regime widely derided by the maritime industry as an unworkable failure. The current system has been accused of pushing owners of EU-flagged ships to export end-of-life vessels illegally to recycling facilities in countries outside the OECD. The commission has confirmed that it is in the process of developing a new regime that would allow such tonnage to be dismantled in Asia, the main area for ship recycling. Under the proposed new system yards involved would hold certification proving high working standards and would comply with the International Maritime Organization’s Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, adopted in 2009."

By Liz McCarthy. LLOYD’S LIST, 15 June 2011, p 1

China’s Dalian to build world’s largest green recycling facility:

"The move to build this state-of-the-art recycling yard on Changxing Island, in the Liaoning province in northern China, represents the government’s desire for the country to excel as a market leader in all areas of the maritime sector. DSIC, owned by Shanghai-listed China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, has already started to build the 460,000 sq m facility, which is set to begin operations in June 2012. The facility will be capable of dismantling about 75 vessels a year, ranging from 50,000 dwt up to 300,000 dwt, the size of a very large crude carrier."

By Liz McCarthy. LLOYD’S LIST, 17 June 2011, p 2

Indian ship recycling yards reject standards claims:

"Representatives of ship recycling nations on the Indian subcontinent have hit back at the unrealistic view of their operations being painted by organisations in the western hemisphere. Many claim they have improved facilities over the past few years to increase safety and environmental standards. Showing images that generalise working conditions at Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani recycling yards as unsafe, with little mechanical equipment and no protective clothing, was “unfair”, the Informa Ship Recycling Conference in London was told this week."

By Liz McCarthy. LLOYD’S LIST, 17 June 2011, p 3

Ship lobby backs EC scrap rethink:

"Julio Garcia Burgues, head of the waste management unit of the Directorate General — Environment, conceded at a conference in London that the European Union (EU)’s Waste Shipment Regulation, which is based on the Basel Convention, had been unable to stem the flow of European Union (EU)-flag scrap tonnage to non-OECD countries such as Bangladesh. Burgues says the EC will, once an impact-assessment study of options has been completed, draft a new proposal covering end-of-life EU-registered ships. He adds that it will be based on the still-to-be-ratified Hong Kong Convention on Ship Recycling that permits the beaching of vessels in the Indian subcontinent but could include more stringent requirements, something that is acceptable for individual states to request under the convention."

By Geoff Garfield. TRADEWINDS, 17 June 2011, p 10

Maersk Line backs 'green' policy despite recycling exit:

"Maersk Line says its policy on green recycling will not change despite the pending closure of the group’s in-house operation. AP Moller-Maersk tonnage is currently scrapped alongside quaysides at yards in China under the control of Maersk Ship Recycling. It was disclosed by TradeWinds in April that this division, which was effectively inherited with the takeover of P&O Nedlloyd, would cease and along with it also the handling of green recycling for third-party owners. Muller says the group remains focused on raising the recycling-standards bar and “we will continue to send ships to state-of-the art facilities”."

By Geoff Garfield. TRADEWINDS, 17 June 2011, p 10

Green ‘one-stop shop’ launched:

"A new venture specialising in the green scrapping of ships is being launched by leading figures behind Maersk Ship Management Recycling. It will provide services for brokers, yards and owners — including AP Moller-Maersk — and will focus on the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships and floating structures. The venture, Sea2Cradle, is being spearheaded by Tom Peter Blankestijn, director of Maersk Ship Management Recycling, and colleague Wouter Rozenfeld. Rotterdam-based Sea2Cradle follows AP Moller-Maersk’s recent decision to pull out of the green recycling of ships for third-party owners and close its operation, which it views as non-core."

By Geoff Garfield. TRADEWINDS, 24 June 2011, p 10

Maersk expects to limit Triple-E fleet to 20 vessels:

"Maersk Line looks set to limit its order for 18,000 teu ships to 20 units after revealing that it probably will not exercise an option for a third series of 10 vessels. The Danish line has now confirmed plans for a further 10 Triple-E 18,000 teu containerships to be built by South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering , but is likely to consider smaller capacities when next returning to the shipyards."

By Colum Murphy and Janet Porter. LLOYD’S LIST, 28 June 2011, p 1

EU drops Basel convention in favour of HK alternative:

"The Commission has indicated that it plans to present draft legislation on the subject before the end of the year. The surprise, however, is that it plans to base its draft not on the Basel Convention on the movement of dangerous waste but on the Hong Kong Convention on ship recycling. It argues the latter is “more adapted to ships” and that the Basel Convention, the basis for existing EU ship recycling legislation, is widely circumvented. “Data from 2009 shows that more than 90% of EU flagged ships have been dismantled outside the OECD,” Commission environment spokesman Joe Hennon told Fairplay. He said the Basel Convention had proved effective for dealing with hazardous waste movement in general but was difficult to enforce with regard to ship recycling, not least because of the absence of ship recycling facilities in the EU."

FAIRPLAY, 30 June 2011, p 29

Source: Current Awareness Bulletin. IMO. June 2011

http://www.imo.org/KnowledgeCentre/CurrentAwarenessBulletin/Documents/CAB%20176%20June%202011.pdf