Although more and more yards are being added to the European Union (EU) list of approved ship recycling facilities, the demands of the global shipping industry need additional capacity, according to a recent report by the international shipping association BIMCO.
The association believes the focus must shift towards adding facilities outside of the EU, while its report also shows that the EU audit system works as intended for non-EU recycling facilities.
The report has confirmed that so far, the inclusion of non-European ship recycling facilities on the EU list has provided limited potential for large scale recycling.
EU member state facilities, in general, provide either bespoke local solutions to a niche recycling market or are focussed on offshore decommissioning, according to BIMCO, which explains, “this means they are not dedicated to the recycling of large ocean going ships and therefore do not have sufficient capacity.”
According to the report, Turkey is the only major ship recycling nation contributing significant capacity to the EU List.
“Today, there are still no facilities from the main recycling states such as India, Bangladesh or Pakistan included on the EU list to meet the demand for recycling of larger ships. Many yards have made significant efforts toward upgrading their facilities. We believe focus on getting some of these facilities added to the list should be increased if they meet the standards of the Hong Kong Convention, which we believe should be ratified as soon as possible,” commented BIMCO’s secretary general and CEO, David Loosley.
Loosley went on to add, “BIMCO agrees there is significant potential for the ship recycling industry to contribute to the circular economy, as it supplies large quantities of scrap metal to the steel and iron industries, thereby reducing the need to produce primary metals.”
BIMCO noted that the EU audit system is working as intended in identifying failings in the auditable systems and reacting with punitive actions if needed.
