Ships, regardless of their flag, should not
be allowed to call at any EU port without a ship recycling license, a European
Commission report has recommended.
The report, published this week and written
by Ecorys, class society DNV GL and the Erasmus University School of Law, looks
into the possibility of introducing a financial incentive to enhance safe and
environmentally sound ship recycling.
Ship recycling license fees would be used to
cover the cost-gap between substandard and sustainable end-of-life
shipmanagement. The amount accumulated during the operational life of the
vessel would be set aside for the ship and only paid back to the last owner of
the vessel as a premium, if the ship is recycled in a sustainable facility
approved by the EU.
“We call on the European Commission to
follow-up this report with a legislative proposal. The effective implementation
of European environmental policies has been dependent on making the 'polluter
pay'. If the EU is serious about its commitment to sustainable ship recycling,
all shipowners trading in Europe need to be held financially liable,” said
Stephane Arditi, products & waste policy manager at the European
Environmental Bureau.
The 2013 EU Ship Recycling Regulation
requires all vessels sailing under an EU flag to use an approved ship recycling
facility. A major shortcoming of the Regulation, however, is that shipowners
can circumvent the law by simply flagging out to a non-EU flag.
EU owners accounted for around one third of
the end-of-life tonnage beached in substandard yards in Bangladesh, India and
Pakistan, the report claimed. “EU shipping companies should not circumvent EU
environmental laws and not utilise practices that would never be allowed in
Europe. EU flag-neutral measures, which apply equally to all ships calling at
EU ports, are necessary to increase environmental protection,” said Sotiris
Raptis, shipping and aviation officer at EU Transport and Environment.
European ports are not opposing the ‘ship
recycling license’and SeaEurope, Europe's shipyard and maritime equipment
association, has expressed enthusiasm towards ensuring better implementation of
the Ship Recycling Regulation. Last month it called for support to enhance ship
recycling capacity and R&D towards more cost effective solutions in Europe.
“The upcoming EU list of approved ship
recycling facilities will function as an important market differentiator for
yards that have already invested in proper occupational health & safety and
environmental standards. The use of the EU listed facilities will however
depend on the introduction of an effective financial incentive that forces
irresponsible shipowners towards better practices,” said Ingvild Jenssen, policy
director at the NGO Shipbreaking Platform.
Source: tanker
operator. 8 July 2016
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