Ship dismantling
Introduction
Worldwide, between 200 and 600 large end-of-life ships are broken
up and recycled every year, as their steel, other scrap metal and
equipment constitute valuable raw materials. Most of this ship dismantling
nowadays takes place in South Asia, on tidal beaches and under primitive
conditions. While the industry provides thousands of jobs for migrant
workers, a lack of environmental protection and safety measures
leads to high accident rates, health risks and extensive pollution
of coastal areas. Older ships contain many hazardous materials,
including asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), tributyl tin
and large quantities of oils and oil sludge.
As many ships sail under the flag of an EU member state, and even
more are owned by European companies, the situation is of concern
to the EU. Community legislation is affected in so far as it prohibits
the export of hazardous waste to developing countries.
This webpage gives information about the problem and the activities
at international and EU level to improve the conditions of ship
dismantling.
Speech by Commissioner Janez Potočnik: "A more efficient clean up of the ship recycling industry" delivered on the 8 February 2011
EU strategy for better ship dismantling
On 12 March 2010, the Commission adopted a Communication presenting "An assessment of the link between the IMO Hong Kong Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships, the Basel Convention and the EU waste shipment regulation" (pdf~43Kb)
On 19 November 2008 the Commission adopted a Communication on "An EU Strategy for better ship dismantling". 
(pdf~70Kb)
Impact Assessment
Press release "Commission presents EU strategy for safer ship dismantling".
A public consultation on the Commission Communication for "An EU Strategy for better ship dismantling" took place from April to June 2009 (see consultation document. Contributions in the context of this consultation are saved here. A summary of the contributions can be accessed here.
Stakeholders workshops have been organised on the 9 June 2009, 23 October 2009, 8 April 2011 and 27-28 June 2011.
The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the Communication in a resolution of 26 March 2009 and the Council adopted conclusions on the 21 October 2009.
Green Paper on better ship dismantling
On 22 May 2007, the European Commission has adopted a Green Paper
on better ship dismantling:
A public consultation on the Green Paper took place from May to September 2007. Contributions in the context of this consultation are saved here. Short summary of these contributions (as of 15 October 2007) (pdf~20KB).
The European Parliament commented on the Green Paper and called for action at EU level in a resolution of 21 May 2008.
The Commission has assessed the impacts of an EU strategy for better ship dismantling, taking into account the results of the Green Paper consultation, and intends to publish a Communication on this issue in autumn 2008.
Background information
-
Environmental Commissioner Dimas'
speech of 25 April 2006 (pdf~521Kb)
-
European Community law on waste shipments:
Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste prohibits
the export of hazardous waste from the Community to non-OECD
countries.
With special regard to ships, recital 35 of this regulation
reads:
"It is necessary to ensure the safe and environmentally
sound management of ship dismantling in order to protect human
health and the environment. Furthermore, it should be noted
that a ship may become waste as defined in Article 2 of the
Basel Convention and that at the same time it may be defined
as a ship under other international rules. It is important to
recall that work is ongoing, involving inter-agency cooperation
between International Labour Organisation (ILO), International
Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the Secretariat of the Basel
Convention, to establish mandatory requirements at the global
level ensuring an efficient and effective solution to the problem
of ship dismantling."
For the text of the regulation and more details see the waste
shipment webpage
Case-law on export of end-of-life ships:
-
Developing an EU strategy for environmentally sound ship dismantling is an element of the Commission's Action Plan for An Integrated Maritime Policy for the European Union, see p. 16.
For further information on EU Maritime Policy see here.
-
Studies and research projects of the European Commission
on ship dismantling:
Studies:
LIFE project
Recent and ongoing research projects (DG Research):
-
SHIPDISMANTL Cost-effective and environmentally sound
dismantling of obsolete vessels. The project was funded with
1.5m € under the 6th European Research Framework
Programme (FP6).
-
SHIPMATES Shiprepair to maintain transport which is
environmentally sustainable. The project was funded with 2.150.000 € under the 6th European Research
Framework Programme (FP6).
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DIVEST Dismantling of Vessels with Enhanced Safety and Technology. Project foreseen under the 7th European Research Framework Programme (FP7).
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Work of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) on ship
recycling:
See website.
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Ship Recycling Convention / current work in the International
Maritime Organisation (IMO):
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has just adopted the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. The new instrument takes a “cradle to grave approach” and will regulate:
- the design, construction, operation and preparation of ships so as to facilitate safe and environmentally sound recycling, without compromising their safety and operational efficiency.
- the operation of ship recycling facilities in a safe and environmentally sound manner; and
- the establishment of an appropriate enforcement mechanism for ship recycling (certification / reporting).
Text of the Convention adopted during the Diplomatic Conference held between 11 and 15 May 2009 in Honk Kong, China (pdf~284Kb) .
Guidelines supporting the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships are being developed by the IMO.
The advanced version of the 2001 Guidelines for the development of the Inventory of Hazardous Materials adopted on 15 July 2011 is available here (pdf~865Kb).
The advanced version of the 2011 Guidelines for the development of the Ship Recycling Plan adopted on 15 July 2011 is avaible here (pdf~41Kb).
-
Basel Convention: The Basel Convention on the Control
of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
is relevant for ship dismantling, as a ship that is sent for scrapping
usually contains hazardous materials and may be (hazardous) waste
as well as a ship under other international conventions. The Conferences
of the Parties (COPs) of the Basel Convention have adopted Technical
Guidelines and various decisions on this issue, and the Secretariat
has collected information on ship dismantling. For further information
see the website.
The EU has contributed to the assessment of the levels of controls and enforcement established by the Basel and by the Hong Kong Convention with several submissions: in January 2008, January 2009 and April 2011.
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International Labour Organisation (ILO)
The ILO has adopted in 2004 technical guidelines on ship dismantling:
"Safety and Health in Shipbreaking – Guidelines for Asian
countries and Turkey". See website.
Further
information on ILO activities.
-
Joint ILO/IMO/Basel Convention Working Group on Ship Scrapping
ILO, IMO and Basel Convention have set up a Joint Working Group on Ship Scrapping, in order to coordinate their activities on this issue and remove gaps and overlaps of the respective guidelines. The Joint Working Group has held two sessions in 2005 and one in October 2008.
For details see: http://www.basel.int/ships/jimbwg.html. The report of the third session is accessible at: http://www.basel.int/ships/ilo-imo-bc-WG3Report.pdf.
- World Bank
The World Bank has published a study presenting an in-depth assessment of the ship breaking and recycling industry in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The Industry Working Group on Ship Recycling has adopted in october 2009 the ‘Transitional Measures for Shipowners Selling Ships for Recycling’.
In October 2007, the International Ship Recycling Association (I.S.R.A.) was founded with the aim to promote sustainable ship recycling and create a level playing field for operators worldwide. See website http://www.isra-dis.com/.
