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Alang ship recycling activity. Photo: PA
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The European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA) has said that
Europe should trust class society judgements on ship recycling yards or risk
putting off big players from signing up to international standards.
ECSA was commenting on the latest certifications of compliance issued by
ClassNK to two yards in Alang, India, that use the often-criticised beaching
method. The certifications were welcomed by ECSA, which is concerned that if
south Asian yards are effectively banned by the EU by failing to make it onto
the European Ship Recycling Regulation's accepted recycling yard List, the
shipping industry will be left with insufficient recycling capacity.
ECSA argued that the certification shows the yards comply with the international
regulation developed at the International Maritime Organization (the Hong Kong
International Convention on the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of
Ships). Also the task of developing sufficient capacity for recycling "may
be jeopardised" if Europe refused to approve yards on "grounds of
method or geography".
The organisation called on the European Commission to "engage in a
dialogue with classification societies specifically on ship recycling to ensure
that the European list of approved recycling facilities does not base itself on
assumptions but rather on-site inspections".
ECSA justified its position by saying that classification societies
"are independent, self-regulating, externally audited" bodies with
"no commercial interests related to ship design, shipbuilding or ship
ownership".
Speaking to IHS Maritime, Benoit Loicq, ECSA's director of maritime and
environment said: "Having those Hong Kong Convention yards on the EU list
of acceptable breaking yards will definitely be an additional incentive for
other yards located in India and elsewhere to improve their recycling
practices.
"As a consequence, a major recycling state such as India will be in
a position to ratify the Hong Kong convention for the benefit of achieving safe
and environmentally sound recycling conditions globally."
ECSA pointed to constant delays to compilation of the European List of
acceptable recycling yards. Loicq said this was mostly due to legal reasons.
He added, "It is mainly to do with the implementing acts required
under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation and the official publication of it in
the Official Journal of the EU. In particular an implementing act on the
documentation and form required for the yards to apply."
An EU official told IHS Maritime that classification societies were
expected to become "Independent Verifiers" (IV) under the new EU
system. A certificate from an IV will have to be attached to applications for
inclusion in the EU List of approved yards.
"The European Commission will not list independent verifiers, but it
will still ensure that the certifications it receives from the facilities are
compiled by independent and qualified professionals" he said. "So not
just anyone can be an IV. For example, [an IV] cannot be someone from the
quality assurance department of the ship recycling company, as that would not
qualify as independent."
He went on to explain that the verification system would be multilayered.
"After the [commission] receives the application from the facility
to enter the EU list, the commission itself, with its experts, will review the
whole application file. It is very possible that the Commission rejects the
application from a facility even if the latter was certified by the independent
verifier.
"The Commission will carry out site inspections itself on the
facilities, before and/or after listing on the EU list."
A facility listed on the European list "can
always be withdrawn from the list if it ceases to be compliant."
Source: HIS Maritime.
08 October 2015
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