India has drafted legislation to implement the 2009 Hong
Kong Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships.
India's Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari announced the
news at the 30th Assembly Session of the IMO in London last week. The
Convention is yet to come into force and has only been ratified by Norway,
Congo, France, Belgium, Panama and Denmark. It will enter into force when
ratified by 15 states, representing 40 per cent of the world merchant shipping.
The importance of the announcement cannot be overstated,
as India holds the key to the future of Hong Kong Convention, says Dr. Nikos
Mikelis, Non-executive Director of cash buyer GMS. “The Convention’s third
condition for entry into force requires the accession or ratification by
countries that have recycling capacity that is proportionate to the tonnage of
the fleets under the scope of the Convention.
“The recycling capacities of China plus Turkey plus the
rest of the world (but excluding the three South Asian countries) is currently
only 69 percent of the capacity required under the third condition of Hong Kong
Convention. On the other hand, the combined capacities of China plus any one
out of the three South Asian ship recycling countries meet the requirement of
the third condition.”
In India, the Ministry of Shipping has already introduced
the Shipbreaking Code 2013, replicating the full requirements of Hong Kong
Convention in its domestic legislation. Even earlier, Gujarat Maritime Board
had organized the setting up of facilities for the disposal of hazardous waste
materials and for the provision of training for all ship recycling workers.
Since 2015, an increasing number of Indian yards have
been upgrading their procedures, training and infrastructure to meet the
standards of Hong Kong Convention, with the result that now half of the yards
in Alang have obtained, or are in the process of obtaining Statements Of
Compliance from classification societies, testifying that they meet the
technical standards of Hong Kong Convention.
“As Bangladesh and Pakistan
will need time to be in a position to replicate the work and improvements that
have taken place in India, it follows that India is now in an ideal position to
accede to Hong Kong Convention and in so doing bring forward the day the ship
recycling industry will be regulated globally by a practical and workable
international standard,” says Mikelis. “At the same time the decision of the
Indian government to accede to the Convention will be seen internationally as a
vote of confidence for the ability of the country’s ship recycling industry to
sustain the improvements that are taking place.”
Source:
maritime-executive.
02 December 2017
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