Japanese Shipowners Association told Philippine delegates during their meeting last week that the shipbreaking industry is a good bridge program while waiting for the global economy to pick up.

Ericson Marquez, cochairman of the Philippine-Japan Manning Consultative Council (PJMCC), said Japanese firms want to free up some cash during these times, as the volume of cargoes is not expected to rise as much due to the global economic crisis.

PJMCC is composed of mostly shipowners from Japan and manning agencies from the Philippines. That meeting, however, was also attended by labor and transport officials from both countries.

“However, at this time, due to very limited areas with a shipbreaking industry, Japan is urging the Philippines to look into the possibility of having such an industry where they assured good business with them,” Marquez said.

Japan has some 5,000 vessels, wherein 2,000 ships are used domestically and 3,000 are utilized internationally. From the figure of ocean- going vessels, owners want to scrap between 5 percent and 10 percent of their fleet, or about 300.

At the moment, the world’s top shipbreakers are in the South Asian countries, like India and Bangladesh.

At the moment, Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) is still sitting on the proposal to have a local shipbreaking industry.

Officials said they are still waiting for a decision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to find at least three shipbreaking sites in the country.

The DENR is adamant on giving its go signal on the project as it poses possible risk to the country’s environment, such as oil spill and other toxic materials.

For now Marina is only implementing a ship-retirement program as it wants the industry to get rid of old and dilapidated ships.

The Philippines has, likewise, agreed to the ship dismantling under the Basel Convention. According to the Basel Convention, the ships contain highly toxic materials, including asbestos, heavy metals, and oils and fuels.