There
are around 120 ship recycling yards that are currently operational, all using
the beaching method of recycling and capable to handle all sizes and types of
end-of-life vessels in Alang ,India . Out of these 120 yards, in the last three
years 70 yards have invested in improvements in their infrastructure, work
procedures and training of the workforce, in line with the technical standards
of the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally
Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC).
The
decision makers in the European Union has became apprehensive with the word
“beaching” due to the lobbying of some specific groups in the past twelve years
.
Beaching:
It
is just a process of bringing a vessel near the shore (i.e. near the recycling
yard) using the vessel’s own powerwhile taking advantage of the tide. It is
widely known that beaching takes place in India and landing takes place in
Turkey.
The
question which arises is how the Landing method employed in Turkey is different
from the method used in India? Practically, both are the same. One will be
surprised to know that landing takes place even in the United States (Texas). That
means, the process itself is not a problem. The actual problem starts on how
the vessel is cut at a yard, after the beaching (or landing, or floating) of
the vessel.
But what is the reason so many yard owners in Alang decided to
make these significant investments in infrastructure and working standards?
In
2009, the adaptation of the Hong Kong International Convention for the safe and
environmentally sound recycling of ships, which was then the only International
Convention on ship recycling, was the driving force for all the significant
upgrades that took place in the ship recycling yards in India. In addition, the
Classification Societies started to show interest in auditing yards against the
HKC standards.
On
top of the above, few ship owners started visiting several recycling yards in
South Asia to witness if the high recycling standards were in accordance with
the HKC. As a result, in the end of 2015, the first 4 recycling yards in India
were certified by ClassNK with a Statement of Compliance (SOC) with the HKC.
Soon, more yards joined this virtuous circle with the result that now the
majority of Alang works in line with the Hong Kong Convention.
On
the other hand, though, while Turkey is claimed to be a green recycling
destination, it will be surprising to mention that only 8 yards out of 22 in
total, received a SOC with the HKC from the Classification Societies.
As
stated earlier, In India, 70 yards have been certified by various
Classification Societies with Statements of Compliance (SOC) with the
requirements of the HKC out of the total 120 working yards. The capacity of
these 70 yards is around 65% of the total LDT capacity of Alang, and as that is
nearly 4.5 M ton per year, the SOC certified yards have the capacity to handle
nearly 3 M LDT per year.
The
above, clearly shows the amount of time, effort and money that has been
invested by a significant proportion of the yard owners in Alang, to meet the
International recycling standards.
It
should be noted that the yards both in Turkey and India are certified by the
Classification Societies against the same HKC standards. But even with these
high recycling standards in India, currently, only 15 yards are recycling
vessels which demand a SOC with the HKC out of the 70 yards in total, which
hold a SOC with the HKC.
Yard Owners disgruntled
Although,
these yards offer quality recycling services, the majority of owners so far are
not interested in quality/green recycling. There have been questions in
international conferences recently on when will 100% of the recycling yards in
Alang be HKC certified. However the more pressing question that yard owners are
asking now in Alang is “Why do we have to achieve 100% certification when the
existing SOC yards are not getting enough vessels requiring and paying for HKC
standards for recycling?”
What
is important to underline is that even though the situation is tough, most of
the owners of SOC yards are continuing to invest to further to upgrade their
yards to meet the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EUSRR) standards, in an effort
to be included in the list of the EU-approved yards. Though, only 9 yards (with
cumulative recycling capacity of 0.6 M LDT) applied two years ago for inclusion
in the EU-List, the approval of these 9 applications from India, will certainly
boost the confidence of yard owners and the bar of recycling standards will go
further high.
Those
Indian yards should be included in the EU-approved list as they hold a
certificate from an Independent Verifier in accordance with the requirements of
the European Union’s Ship Recycling Regulation (EUSRR) 1257/2013. Upon the
inclusion, the other yards in India will wish to do the same by upgrading their
facilities and as a result, Alang will be completely transformed.
Similarly,
Bangladesh and Pakistan will be significantly improved as Alang will become the
force of change for these recycling locations as well. In case that the yards
that have applied for inclusion to the EU list are not approved by the European
Commission, then, all the investments in quality recycling will dry up, making
those who believed in the green future of ship recycling in the sub-continent,
look foolish.
It
should be recalled that the objective behind the EUSRR was also to catalyze the
early ratification of the HKC. The decision makers should take a pragmatic
approach to fullfil the objective than hindering the growth of quality
recycling in South Asian Countries – which recyle more than 85% of the total
end-of-life vessels per year.
Source: steel-360.
20 August 2018
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