The second phase of an IMO-implemented
project to enhance safe and environmentally sound ship recycling in Bangladesh
is set to begin in January, following a $1.1 million funding agreement with
Norway.
The two-year project will build on the first
phase of the Safe and Environmentally Sound Ship Recycling in Bangladesh
(SENSREC) project, which resulted in economic and environmental studies on ship
recycling in Bangladesh, the development of training materials and capacity
building plans and a preliminary design for infrastructure including facilities
for treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes generated from
recycling operations.
Bangladesh is one the world’s top four ship
recycling countries by capacity, alongside China, India and Pakistan, which
together account for 94.9 percent of known ship recycling in the world. Ship
recycling is key for the local economy and produces large quantities of steel
and other materials which are recycled and sold on.
The second phase of the SENSREC project
(SENSREC Phase II - capacity building) will continue to support Bangladesh to
comply with international requirements and guide Bangladesh towards accession
to the IMO ship recycling treaty, the Hong Kong International Convention for
the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (known as the Hong Kong
Convention). The Hong Kong Convention sets the international standards for ship
recycling and, when in force, will ensure that ships do not pose any
unnecessary risks to human health, safety or the environment when being recycled
at the end of their operational lives.
The project will assist Bangladesh to build
the capacity to develop and implement a legal, policy and institutional roadmap
towards accession to the Hong Kong Convention. Also, under the project, a
variety of stakeholders will be trained to lay the foundation for an effective
and sustainable training program within the ship recycling sector in
Bangladesh.
Other international partners including the
Secretariat of the BRS Conventions, the International Labour Organization and
the United Nations Industrial Development Organization will also be involved in
the project.
The NGO Shipbreaking Platform continues to
criticize the performance of the industry and highlights recent deaths in the
country.
Source:
maritime-executive.
13 December 2017
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