The Hong Kong Shipowners Association
(HKSOA) highlighted the fact that Hong Kong and China should ratify the Hong
Kong Convention on ship recycling as soon as possible.
Citing a joint industry press release after
the recent Asian Shipowners Association (ASA) meeting in Hong Kong, it
reaffirmed the commitment to the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and
Environmentally Recycling of Ships and highlighted the urgently needed steps to
bring this into force. The meeting was also attended by BIMCO, ECSA, ICS and
tanker owners’ group Intertanko,
“Hong Kong and China as major ship
registries, and China with many ship recycling facilities, are especially
encouraged to ratify the Hong Kong Convention (HKC) as soon as possible as this
will significantly speed up ratification,” the release said.
It noted that the demand for ship
recycling in 2018, particularly in the tanker sector, is expected to increase.
“After reviewing the increasing need to
expand the number of HKC-compliant ship recycling facilities around the world,
the joint industry meeting agreed that the entry into force of the HKC was
critical. To be able to bring the HKC into force however, it is essential that
the ship recycling states commit to improving the standards of ship recycling
and ratify the HKC,” the release noted.
All participating associations were
urged to approach their respective governments to hasten the process of
ratification of HKC while also requesting their respective governments to
include ratification of the HKC as an agenda item when having an opportunity to
talk with officials of the ship recycling states.
All ship recycling states were also
encouraged to ratify the HKC and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)
and its member states was encouraged to establish a team for early enactment of
the HKC under IMO which would act as a focal point for activities of the
concerned stakeholders including governments, recyclers, workers, shipowners
and observer organisations.
The call however would seem to sound a
bit hollow in the light of China’s decision in April to ban the import of
scrapped ships by the end of 2018.
Separately, the International Ship
Recycling Association (ISRA) said in a statement that this recent development
“is challenging for the ship recycling industry as a whole”.
ISRA added: “The announcement to stop
importing recycle ships in China could close some of the best recycling facilities
in the world that match the Hong Kong Convention and the EU ship recycling
regulation requirements. Since the IMO started to discuss Ship Recycling
regulations, a number of Chinese ship recycling facilities have upgraded and
invested in their facilities enormously. This made these yards the first in the
world to recycle ships at the highest standards available on Health, Safety and
Environment.”
ISRA noted that if the ban is really
implemented, well over 2.5m tons of high standard capacity will be taken out of
the global market and “can be seen as a major step back in the global
development towards environmental and human safe ship recycling”.
ISRA secretary-general Bernard Veldhoven
said: “ISRA is concerned about this recent development and is available to
regulators around the world to discuss and assist in keeping this important
capacity for the maritime industry. We would welcome the Chinese government to
review its announcement and maintain this important ship recycling capacity for
the future.”
Source: seatrade-maritime. 31 May 2018
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