Five European ship recycling yards announced yesterday that they have joined forces to effectively raise awareness of existing best practice and the fact that there is capacity in Europe to properly recycle ships. The newly established European Ship Recyclers Group (ESR), set up under the umbrella of the International Ship Recycling Association (ISRA), aims at reaching out to ship owners that are looking for clean and safe ship recycling. The NGO Shipbreaking Platform can only welcome this step and vows to support their efforts in attracting more business as long as they maintain sustainable practices.

The European Union approved 18 ship recycling facilities with a total capacity of 1.1 million LDT under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation in December last year. All 18 facilities are located within the EU and the newly established ESR represents five of these yards - from France (Port of Bordeaux), Belgium (Galloo), Denmark (Smedegaarden), the Netherlands (Scheepssloperij) and Spain (DDR). The European Commission is currently revising 18 additional applications from facilities located outside the EU. To make it on the EU list of approved facilities, yards need to prove that they are able to contain pollutants, ensure safe working conditions and the environmentally sound management of all wastes derived from the recycling activities. Facilities that operate on tidal beaches are not expected to make it on the EU list.

Whilst ship recycling facilities in Europe, as in the US and China, currently operate under-capacity because they are unable to compete with the higher prices offered by the beaching yards in South Asia, the EU list comes with a promise of raising the profile of yards that have already invested in infrastructure and technologies to ensure safe and clean practices.