Tag: clean&safe

Press Release – European Commission report recommends the introduction of a Ship Recycling License

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Ships regardless of their flag should not be allowed to call at any EU port without a ship recycling license to incentivise sustainable ship recycling, a European Commission report recommends.

 

The report written by Ecorys, classification society DNV-GL and the Erasmus University School of Law and published yesterday, looks into the possibility of introducing a financial incentive to enhance safe and environmentally sound ship recycling [1]. Ship recycling license fees would be earmarked to cover the cost-gap between substandard and sustainable end-of-life ship management. The capital amount accumulated during the operational life of the vessel would be set aside for the ship and only paid back to the last owner of the vessel as a premium if the ship is recycled in a sustainable facility approved by the EU.

"We call on the European Commission to follow-up this report with a legislative proposal. The effective implementation of European environmental policies has been dependent on making the 'polluter pay'. If the EU is serious about its commitment to sustainable ship recycling, all ship owners trading in Europe need to be held financially liable/"
Stephane Arditi - Products & Waste Policy Manager - European Environmental Bureau (EEB)

The 2013 EU Ship Recycling Regulation requires all vessels sailing under an EU flag to use an approved ship recycling facility [2]. A major shortcoming of the Regulation, however, is that shipowners can circumvent the law by simply flagging out to a non-EU flag. At end-of-life, cash-buyers act as intermediaries and sell the vessels to substandard yards in South Asia often using flags of convenience which are grey- or black-listed by European governments under the Paris Memorandum of Understanding. Last year, Bangladesh, where human rights abuses and pollution caused by shipbreaking activities are known to be the worst, was the preferred destination for end-of-life ships. EU owners account for around one third of the end-of-life tonnage beached in substandard yards in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Thus, the EU is the single largest market sending end-of-life ships for dirty and dangerous shipbreaking and has a particular responsibility to regulate ship recycling [3].

"EU shipping companies should not circumvent EU environmental laws and not utilise practices that would never be allowed in Europe. EU flag-neutral measures which apply equally to all ships calling at EU ports are necessary to increase environmental protection."
Sotiris Raptis - Shipping and Aviation Officer - Transport and Environment

European ports are not opposing the ‘ship recycling license’ [4] and SeaEurope, Europe's ship yard and maritime equipment association, has expressed enthusiasm towards ensuring better implementation of the Ship Recycling Regulation - last month they called for support to enhance ship recycling capacity and R&D towards more cost effective solutions in Europe [5].

 

"The upcoming EU list of approved ship recycling facilities will function as an important market differentiator for yards that have already invested in proper occupational health & safety and environmental standards. The use of the EU listed facilities will however depend on the introduction of an effective financial incentive that forces irresponsible shipowners towards better practices."
Ingvild Jenssen - Policy Director - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

 

NOTES

 

[1] Article 29 of the EU Ship Recycling Regulation asks the European Commission to submit a report on the feasibility of a financial instrument that would facilitate safe and sound ship recycling, and to accompany this report by a legislative proposal if deemed appropriate. For Regulation text see http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/ships/ For the report on a possible financial incentive see: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/ships/pdf/financial_instrument_ship_recycling.pdf.

 

[2] A list of approved ship recycling facilities globally will be published by the end of 2016.

 

[3] Approximately 40% of the world fleet is controlled by owners based in the EU+EFTA, only 17% of the world fleet, however, sails under an EU+EFTA flag. The vast majority of EU-owned ships are sailing under the flags of states such as Panama, Liberia and the Marshall Islands during operational life. The percentage of EU flags drops to less than 8% at end-of-life.

 

[4] An earlier proposal for a 'ship recycling fund' was narrowly rejected by the European Parliament in 2013 with industry stakeholders, including the shipping industry and ports, strongly opposing the fund at the time. Whilst ship owners remain unwilling to bear the cost of sustainable recycling, both the public and private European port associations – ESPO and Feport – have now expressed that they are satisfied with the new license proposal. The license scheme will not be administered by the ports. It is also time-based, with the option of a monthly or yearly license, rather than based on the collection of a fee at each individual port call.

[5] See press release from 11 May 2016: http://www.seaeurope.eu/template.asp?f=pressreleases.asp.

For more information see our “What a difference a flag makes” report on why ship owners need to be held accountable for sustainable ship recycling beyond flag state jurisdiction.

 

 

Platform News – NGO Shipbreaking Platform presents Annual Report 2015

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The NGO Shipbreaking Platform presents its Annual Report 2015.

 

Check the new Annual Report to find out more about:

- our findings about global shipbreaking practices in 2015, including an overview of developments on the ground and statistics on the total number of ships dismantled in 2015;

- our activities and campaigns in 2015, including our policy campaign aimed at creating a legal framework that ensures the growth of clean and safe ship recycling globally; our corporate campaign calling upon ship owners, cargo owners, ship financers and recyclers to commit to sustainable ship recycling; and our work in the shipbreaking countries where there is a need for strengthened regulation and implementation of existing legislation to protect the workers and the environment;

- our wide outreach in the press and on social media;

- latest organisational developments.

 

Download the Platform’s Annual Report 2015 here, or send us an email to order a hard copy.

 

 

Platform News – European Union sets a global standard for sustainable ship recycling: NGOs call on shipping companies to use EU approved yards

Posted on by admin_ec

Today, the European Commission (EC) publishes technical guidance for ship recycling facilities that want to be approved under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation. The European Union (EU) mirrors with this step the call by environmental and human rights NGOs for a relocation of ship recycling to platforms that can ensure sustainable practices. Facilities that intend to be listed as EU-approved will need to ensure safe working conditions, pollution control including proper downstream waste management and enforcement of international labour rights.

"Recycling yards that want to make it on the EU list of approved facilities need to meet high environmental and safety standards. The EC is clear in its message: an unprotected beach is never going to be an appropriate place for a high-risk heavy industry involving hazardous waste management."
Ingvild Jenssen - Policy Director - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

According to the EU, ship recycling is an industrial activity that needs industrial methods, equipment and standards. Workers and the environment anywhere in the world have the same right to protection under the EU Regulation. Attempts by some Member States with strong shipping interests to water down the requirements of the Regulation, more specifically, to accept low-cost beaching facilities in South Asia as environmentally friendly and safe for workers in order to make it on the list, have not been successful.

 

The EU list of approved ship recycling facilities [1] will become a global reference point for sustainable ship recycling. It rewards the companies that already have or are willing to invest in the necessary infrastructure and the employment of fully trained workers to ensure safe and environmentally sound recycling practices. The yards responsible shipping companies such as Hapag Lloyd, Wilhelmsen, Grieg and Royal Dutch Boskalis work with in Europe, China and Turkey will most likely feature on the EU list after having provided evidence that they comply with the requirements and in some cases also having improved their practices in order to meet the European standard. By promising to clearly distinguishing good from bad practices [2], the EU list has also already prompted the establishment of new facilities that see opportunities for an increased market share.

 

For ship owners, the EU list will be the only guarantee that their end-of-life vessels are not causing harm to workers and the environment. Backed by ‘independent verifiers with qualifications’ and audits by the EC or agents acting on its behalf, a further important warranty lays in the right NGOs have to submit complaints and concerns to the EC regarding the functioning of a facility and with that prompt an on-site visit to establish whether the facility should be removed from the list.

"While only vessels sailing under an EU flag will be legally obliged to use an EU approved facility, any shipping company around the world with a responsible policy can use the EU listed facilities to prove their effort."
Ingvild Jenssen - Policy Director - NGO Shipbreaking Platform

 

NOTES

[1] The EU list of approved ship recycling facilities is expected to be published by the end of 2016. Applications from facilities that want to feature on the first batch of the list need to be sent to the EC by 1 July 2016.

 

[2] Unlike the industry driven International Maritime Organisation (IMO) the EU is not rubberstamping the unnecessarily risky activity of managing reverse logistics of ship material management on a beach.
The EU requirements go beyond the IMO’s Hong Kong Convention (HKC), a piece of law which was adopted in 2009, but so far has only been ratified by four countries and is unlikely to enter into force in due time. More than 100 global environmental and human rights organisations, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Toxics and European policy makers have denounced the HKC for merely rubberstamping the status quo.