Environment
Ship recycling
needs the
Hong Kong
Convention
T
Ship recycling needs the
Hong Kong Convention
en years after the adoption of IMO’s Hong Kong
Convention for the Safe and Environmentally
Sound Recycling of Ships, in May 2009, there has
been progress with voluntary application of its
requirements, but the treaty needs to enter into
force for it to be widely implemented. “I urge
Member States who have not yet done so to ratify
the Convention at the earliest opportunity, in
order to bring it into force as soon as possible,” said
IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim, speaking at an
International Seminar on Ship Recycling: Towards the
Early Entry into Force of the Hong Kong Convention (10 May). The seminar
was organized by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and
Tourism (MLIT) of Japan in cooperation with the IMO Secretariat.
Speakers from industry and national authorities, including ship recycling
countries, are addressing the seminar, which aims to highlight how to
promote sustainable ship recycling and discuss what is necessary to move
forward for the early entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention.
The Hong Kong Convention covers the design, construction, operation
and maintenance of ships, and preparation for ship recycling in order to
facilitate safe and environmentally sound recycling, without compromising
the safety and operational efficiency of ships. Under the treaty, ships are
required to carry an Inventory of Hazardous Materials, specific to each ship.
Ship recycling yards are required to provide a "Ship Recycling Plan", specific
to each individual ship to be recycled, specifying the manner in which each
ship will be recycled, depending on its particulars and its inventory.
Credits: imo.org
Secretary-General Lim highlighted the work already done by IMO to
develop guidelines to assist in implementation, with a range of awareness-
raising workshops, training and other similar projects, to help build capacity
in ship recycling countries and establish the conditions that will enable
those which have not yet done so, to ratify or accede to the Convention. In
particular, the ongoing project on "Safe and Environmentally Sound Ship
Recycling in Bangladesh" (SENSREC), funded by the Government of Norway
and jointly implemented by IMO, the Government of Bangladesh and the
Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS), is in
its second phase, focusing on building the country's institutional capacity
and implementing the training materials based on Phase I. Meanwhile,
the Government of Japan has been working with relevant stakeholders to
improve ship recycling in South Asia.
To date, the Hong Kong Convention has been ratified or acceded by
eleven States: Belgium, Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Estonia, France,
Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Serbia and Turkey. The combined
merchant fleets of these eleven States constitute 23% of the gross tonnage
of the world’s merchant fleet and their combined ship recycling volume
constitutes about 1.6 million gross tonnage (about 0.56% of the gross
tonnage of the eleven contracting States' merchant fleet). Entry into
force requires 15 States, 40% of the world's merchant fleet and their ship
recycling volume constituting not less than 3% of the gross tonnage of
these contracting States' merchant fleet.
http://www.imo.org/
The Hong Kong Convention covers the design, construction, operation and
maintenance of ships, and preparation for ship recycling in order to facilitate safe and
environmentally sound recycling, without compromising the safety and operational
efficiency of ships.
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