space Press Releases, News Stories

Lloyds List

27 March 2002 -- THERE would appear to be some useful accord between the shipping industry and the International Maritime Organisation over the issue of ship 'recycling'. The industry Code of Practice, which was devised last year with commendable speed, offers a pragmatic way forward with a 'do-able' agenda that can see more responsible policies adopted towards redundant ships. These will both protect the workers and pay more attention to the environment in the vicinity of demolition facilities, insofar as it is possible for owners of ships to influence the matter.

The fact that the IMO is willing to endorse and adopt the industry's thinking on the issue and treat the code as a working document for its own input is also hopeful. It shows a useful recognition of realities and the avoidance of duplication. It would have been pointless for IMO to start to devise recommendations for ship recycling when the basic work had mainly been done by the industry.

Hopefully, this will help to still the voices of the extreme greens and their insistence that ship scrapping was a matter for the Basle Convention, and stop their bullying of shipowners, who are trying to dispose of ships for demolition, by demanding that the ships are stripped and towed for scrapping.

As with everything, progress will depend upon implementation and the way that the industry treats the contents of its code of practice. Within it, there are matters for those considering new tonnage, and a good deal that applies to the disposal of existing ships. Rightly (it has to be said) it firmly buries the notion that the responsibility for safe disposal cannot be sloughed off to the scrapyard proprietors in these predominantly poor countries. The code makes it clear that owners need to be aware of harmful contents and take all measures to hand the ship over with a minimum amount of this material aboard. The industry needs to embrace this code with alacrity, demonstrating its green and safety credentials just as quickly as it can and not waiting for this to be translated into legislation. It probably will not cost a lot to show willing, and will, in the end save money, if the industry itself can be shown to the outside world as responsible and aware.