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Sustainable Shipping pp 203–248Cite as

Ship Recycling

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Abstract

This chapter addresses the recycling of ships, otherwise known as dismantling, ship breaking, scrapping, and demolition. The size and age profile of the world fleet, the conditions that lead to ending the operating life of a ship, and the countries where the recycling of ships is concentrated are first examined. This is followed by an analysis of the economic drivers of ship recycling, which have resulted in the industry being dominated by five countries and also analyzes steelmaking as the main driving force for ship recycling. We then discuss the sale and purchase market for end-of-life ships, explain the roles of brokers and cash buyers, and provide a simplified inventory of the components that are recycled out of a ship. We outline the efforts to implement existing international legislation to ship recycling, and the development of the Hong Kong Convention, and provide a critical analysis of the development of regional legislation by the European Union. We finally discuss the combination of voluntary and legislative mechanisms that will secure the global implementation of minimum standards for safe and environmentally sound ship recycling.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Source of data for Tables 6.2, 6.3, and 6.4: World Steel Recycling in Figures 2013–2017 and earlier issues; data on Pakistan and Bangladesh from Tables 6.1 and 54 of Steel Statistical Yearbook 2017).

  2. 2.

    Note: While IMO uses the term “ship recycling,” Basel Convention refers to “ship dismantling,” whereas ILO uses “ship breaking.” In the shipping industry, the term “ship scrapping” still persists.

  3. 3.

    The International Labour Office is the Secretariat of the International Labour Organization (ILO), which is a specialized agency of the UN for setting labor standards, developing policies, and devising programmes promoting decent work for all women and men.

  4. 4.

    See section: Overview on Ship Dismantling www.basel.int.

  5. 5.

    http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/ships/pdf/COP_10%20Decision_10_17.pdf.

  6. 6.

    For the texts see: http://www.imo.org/OurWork/Environment/ShipRecycling/Pages/Default.aspx.

  7. 7.

    In HKC “ship” is defined as “a vessel of any type whatsoever operating or having operated in the marine environment and includes submersibles, floating craft, floating platforms, self-elevating platforms, floating storage units (FSUs), and floating production storage and offloading units (FPSOs), including a vessel stripped of equipment or being towed.”

  8. 8.

    A country wishing to become a contracting Party to an international Convention can do this by accession to the Convention or by a two-stage process that involves first signing the intent to become Party and then ratifying its signature.

  9. 9.

    For more information on the calculation of the recycling capacity for meeting the entry-into-force conditions of HKC, refer to resolution MEPC.178(59) and to document MEPC 67/INF.2/Rev.1 .

  10. 10.

    In 2019 the criteria will change according to the then published figure of the total GT of the world fleet as of end of December 2018 (to be published in April or May 2019).

  11. 11.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxk_c0Abhos.

  12. 12.

    http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2012/EN/1-2012-118-EN-F1-1.Pdf.

  13. 13.

    Article 13.1 (c).

  14. 14.

    Article 13.1 (f).

  15. 15.

    Article 13.1 (g)(i).

  16. 16.

    Note that with regard to new and to existing ships, Annexes I and II of EU SRR have the same functionality as Appendices 1 and 2 of HKC.

  17. 17.

    See IMO document MEPC 57/3/19: http://merchantmarine.financelaw.fju.edu.tw/data/IMO/MEPC/57/.

  18. 18.

    See the European Commission’s official site for the European List of approved facilities: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32018D0684&from=EN.

Abbreviations

AFS:

International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships

COP:

Conference of the Parties

CSR:

Corporate social responsibility

DASR:

Document of Authorization to conduct Ship Recycling

EAF:

Electric Arc Furnace

EC:

European Commission

EU SRR:

European Union Ship Recycling Regulation

EU:

European Union

GT:

Gross tons

HBCDD:

Brominated flame retardant

HKC:

Hong Kong International Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships, 2009

ICIHM:

International Certificate on Inventory of Hazardous Materials

IGO:

Inter-governmental Organization

IHM:

Inventory of Hazardous Materials

ILO:

International Labour Organization, or International Labour Office

IMO:

International Maritime Organization

IRRC:

International Ready for Recycling Certificate

LDT:

Light displacement tonnage

MARPOL:

The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships

MEP:

Member of European Parliament

MEPC:

Marine Environment Protection Committee

MoA:

Memorandum of Agreement

NGO:

Non-governmental organization

OBC:

Oxygen blown converter

OECD:

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PFOS:

Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and its derivatives

SOC:

Statement of Compliance

SOLAS:

International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea

SRFP:

Ship Recycling Facility Plan

SRP:

Ship Recycling Plan

References

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  • IHS Global Ltd, World Casualty Statistics. (2017). Table 7C. Also back issues of the same publication from 1998 to 2016.

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  • IHS Maritime & Trade, World Fleet Statistics. (2017). Table 20. Also back issues of the same publication from 2007 to 2016.

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  • IMO. (2017). Status of multilateral conventions and instruments in respect of which the International Maritime Organization or its Secretary-general performs depositary or other functions. International Maritime Organization.

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  • Lloyd’s List. (2018). Import ban on scrap ships deals a heavy blow to Chinese shipbreakers, 4 May.

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  • Mikelis, N. (2007). A statistical overview of ship recycling, International Symposium on Maritime Safety, Security & Environmental Protection (SSE07). Laboratory for Maritime Transport at the National Technical University of Athens, 20–21 September, Athens.

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  • Mikelis, N. (2018). The recycling of ships. http://www.gmsinc.net

  • Steel Statistical Yearbook. (2017). Also, earlier issues. World Steel Association.

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  • World Steel in Figures. (2018). World Steel Association.

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  • World Steel Recycling in Figures. (2013–2017). Also, earlier issues. Bureau of International Recycling, Ferrous Division.

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Acknowledgments

The photographs used in this chapter are the author’s with the exception of the photographs on Fig. 6.6 (which has been provided by Mrs. Susan Wingfield, Programme Officer of the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions), Fig. 6.13 (provided by Dr. Claude Wohrer of the Secrétariat Général de la Mer of the French Prime Minister’s Office), and Fig. 6.16 (provided by Mr. Mohammed Zahirul Islam, Managing Director of PHP Shipbreaking and Recycling Industries Ltd). The chapter draws on material from a booklet produced by GMS (Mikelis 2018).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mikelis Consulting, Chiddingly, East Sussex, UK

    Nikos Mikelis

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  1. Nikos Mikelis
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Correspondence to Nikos Mikelis .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. DTU Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

    Harilaos N. Psaraftis

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Mikelis, N. (2019). Ship Recycling. In: Psaraftis, H. (eds) Sustainable Shipping. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04330-8_6

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