1. Introduction

The NGO Platform on Shipbreaking is very pleased to announce the completion of the successful campaign of the ship Otapan. After 7 years of campaigning for proper management and recycling of the Otapan, involving continuous pressure on authorities in the Netherlands and in the Mediterranean region, and two voyages from the Netherlands to Turkey, the Platform, together with participating governments, was able to ensure the implementation of the Basel Convention and demonstrate the viability of pre-cleaning ships.

Implementation of these principles is vital to prevent the environmental injustice that currently sees a majority of the world’s waste ships being dumped and managed in horrific occupational conditions in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is our expectation now that this precedent will be promoted to serve the governments of the world as a working example of how industry and governments can uphold principles of environmental justice and sustainability while properly managing obsolete ships in countries around the world.

2. The Principles

1. Pre-Cleaning of Ships Required prior to final voyage: All shipbreaking in countries that have banned imports of hazardous waste (e.g. Turkey) or are not member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the European Union and Liechtenstein group should only receive ships that have been pre-cleaned to the extent possible prior to their final voyage for cutting and recycling.
   
   
2. Basel Convention Compliance: All transboundary movements of ships must only take place with full compliance of the Basel Convention’s obligations, that inter alia must include the completion of a full accurate inventory of all hazardous wastes in the construction of the ship prior to export; proper notification; and consent received prior to any transboundary movement.
   
   
3. ESM: All recycling of ships including the ship recycling facility and all downstream waste management must be demonstrated to be compliant with the Guidelines on ship recycling published by the International Labor Organization, the Basel Convention, International Maritime Organization and the NGO Platform Green Ship Recycling Standard guaranteeing proper management. Hazardous Wastes that are generated as part of the ship recycling should be sent to an OECD country for disposal.

3. Recommendation

We urge all countries and ship owners making decisions about managing end-of-life ships to make use of this precedent and implement these principles in order to put an end to the current global shipbreaking crisis.