Bureau Veritas Solutions Marine & Offshore urged the shipping industry to adopt higher standards in ship recycling. Thus, BVS provides insight into meeting ship recycling requirements, as well as 10 tips to achieve compliance.
The NGO Shipbreaking Platform issued its Q3 2019 results noting there were 122 ships broken, of which 73 were sold to the beaches of South Asia for dirty and dangerous breaking. The NGO’s report for Q2 revealed that 193 ships were dismantled and the 146 of these were sold to South Asian scrapping beaches.
According to the report, between July and August, 11 workers lost their lives, while 20 were severely injured when breaking ships in Bangladesh and India. To-date, the NGO has recorded 19 deaths and 30 severe injuries in South Asia.
At a Bureau Veritas briefing at the London International Shipping Week, BVS shared insights into the challenges of compliance with IHM (Inventory of Hazardous Materials) and ship recycling requirements, as well as the benefits of a transparent approach to meet obligations and support best practice.
Paul Shrieve, President, Bureau Veritas Solutions, said: “Ten years since the HK Convention, we have seen improvements in standards at recycling shipyards across the world, even ahead of its entry in force. The EU Ship Recycling Regulation has accelerated welcome improvements. Yet, these are not straightforward pieces of legislation. The requirement for EU flagged newbuilds and, from 31-December-2020, existing vessels, to have IHM and a Statement of Compliance, bring challenges that are now pressing, with Port State Control enforcing IHM and end-of-life requirements.”
Considering these challenges, and in order to help the shipping industry address them, BVS created 10 best tips in order to ensure that companies follow proper IHM and recycling policies:
- Fleet-wide planning: understand the timetable for your ships;
- Fleet-wide planning: understand implications for your ships;
- Understand the IHM: what is it and what does it require?
- Understand the Inventory of Hazardous Materials: difference between requirements for EU and non-EU flagged ships;
- Budget for sampling: can you prove what you have on board?
- Develop and maintain the IHM during operations: use BV Solution’s Praxis software tool;
- Recycling decisions: understand benefits and risks;
- Recycling decisions: follow industry best practice;
- Develop and publish your ship recycling policy;
- Seek expert advice.