Ship recycling issues discussed during MEPC 64:

IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee from 1 to 5 of October, 2012

Discussions at the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 64) this week include the following items of particular interest on ship recycling.

This week saw the completion and adoption of two sets of Guidelines on the implementation of the Hong Kong Convention.

The Guidelines for the inspection of ships under the Hong Kong Convention provide port state control inspectors with guidance on inspection of ships which covers the inspection of the International Certificate on Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) as well as Part 1 of the IHM itself. They also provide guidance to PSC inspectors on determining when a detailed inspection may occur and what would provide clear grounds for such an inspection.

The Guidelines for the survey and certification of ships under the Hong Kong Convention were also adopted this week.

An additional important development this week was the agreement to develop threshold values for potentially hazardous materials in the IHM. A Correspondence Group will be established to undertake this work which is vital when developing the IHM as it will assist in determining the level of detail of the IHM, thereby making them concise and practicable for users.

The Hong Kong Convention was completed and adopted in 2009. As yet, no countries have ratified this Convention.

Source: Safety4Sea. 5 October 2012

http://www.safety4sea.com/page/13486/3/ship-recycling-issues-discussed-during-mepc-64-