The Indian Union Cabinet approved the proposal of entering to the Hong Kong International Convention for Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, being the 14th country to join the convention, following the most recent member, Germany.

India is a leader of the global ship recycling industry, with a share of more than 30% of the market.

The industry being largely concentrated in South Asia, India remains the leading market for ship-wrecking globally, with the ship-breaking alone of Alang-Sosiya Shipyard in Gujarat handling around 450 ships every year.

By entering the Convention, the Indian Government ensured that from the micro-end perspective, the industry will continue keeping the workers safe and healthy, whereas in the macro-end, a growing number of ship owners seeking Statement of Compliance (SoC) based green-recycling options can be certain that the authorities have added another layer of security for their incoming vessels, Anil Sharma, CEO of cash buyer GMS, stated.

Therefore, this bill eases the restrictions on non-EU shipyards that have been imposed by the EUSRR.

Dr. Nikos Mikelis, non-executive director of GMS added, “It now only remains for the Parliament’s both houses to review and pass the new bill before India’s President signs India’s accession to the Hong Kong Convention.”

The 14 countries that have already accepted the Hong Kong Convention are: Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Congo Rep, St Kitts & Nevis, Japan, Serbia, Turkey, Malta, Germany, and India, the newest member.