A.P. Moller-Maersk, a major shipping company, has expressed concerns about the challenges of recycling large container ships, particularly post-Panamax vessels when the Hong Kong International Convention (HKC) comes into effect. The HKC sets stringent environmental standards for ship recycling, which could make it more difficult and expensive to recycle these large vessels, reports the Economic Times.
Challenge With Big Ships
“We have a challenge with big ships, big post-Panamax ships to be recycled responsibly across the globe,” Capt Prashant Widge, Head of ESG & Public Affairs, South Asia, A. P. Moller-Maersk, said at a panel discussion held by the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) in Mumbai on 2 December. “Maersk has been quite vocal about this,” he stated. Maersk, Capt Prashant said, would “still look at Alang for doing Panamax vessels but the post Panamax ones which will stop a few hundred metres away for different reasons is something which is not what we can have responsibly recycled at Alang”.
The “different reasons” that Capt Prashant alluded to for Alang’s inability to recycle post Panamax ships is the lack of adequate draft to bring larger ships directly to the recycling plots.
“The post Panamax ships are beached half a km away and then they have to be pulled by workers to the recycling plots. They (Maersk) don’t want that; they have that mindset,” said a ship recycling official at Alang.
Antifouling Paint
Tributyltin (TBT) is an aggressive biocide that was used in antifouling ship paints since the 1970’s. The toxicity of TBT prevents the growth of algae, barnacles and other marine organisms on the ship’s hull.
Maersk reckons that “there’s going to be a huge challenge not just with capacity but also capability” for recycling ships per the standards set by the Hong Kong Convention adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the U N regulator tasked with overseeing global shipping.
“When it comes to capacity, there is of course a theoretical capacity and an actual capacity. We have seen that with the European Union list where they had certain yards on the list and they had a lot of capacity that they basically managed to then kick in the regulations but in essence nobody really used it,” Capt Prashant said.
“I also see a similar challenge with the actual capacity in global ship recycling in terms of supply (when the HKC) come into force,” he noted.
“That is probably where we have a huge ray of hope and when you have Alang and complementary to Alang the ambition that the Indian administration has to double its throughput, looking at new facilities on the east coast, those are probably the ones that could look at (recycling) of post Panamax vessels,” Capt Prashant pointed out.
“That’s how we see capacity, covering that together with capability for handling large vessels,” he said. Some 15,000 ships or 1,500 ships a year are expected to be recycled globally over the next decade, according to BIMCO.
Alang-Sosiya in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district – home to the world’s largest stretch of ship-breaking facilities spanning some 12 kms – is gearing up to carry out green recycling by upgrading their facilities to HKC standards.
But there are conflicting views on Alang’s capacity to take the increasing number of ships that will look for a graveyard to undergo recycling responsibly.
Referring to the capacity challenges, Capt Prashant said, “while we talk about 15,000 (as estimated by BIMCO) as an absolute number, another statistic per studies is that the ship recycling volumes will nearly quadruple, it would be four times by 2033”.
Capacity is already available to take up vessels that require HKC compliant recyclers, says Dr Anand Hiremath, Chief Sustainability Officer at Dubai-based Global Marketing Systems Inc (GMS), the world’s largest cash buyer of ships and offshore assets for recycling.
“Capacity has never been a concern because India, Pakistan and Bangladesh can recycle 95 percent of the ships like they did in the last 30 years. When the yards have developed capabilities for green recycling, it’s time for ship owners to be more responsible when it comes to recycling. Capacity will not be a challenge,” Dr Anand emphasized.
Circular Economy
It is estimated that out of the 1,500 ships heading for recycling every year, India can do at least 830 ships.
“That is our capacity building and we are working on it. For doubling the recycling capacity, we are taking several initiatives, like upgrading the infrastructure facilities, the downstream treatment, storage and disposal (TSD) facilities and medical facilities all of which are expected to be there in place for the HKC,” Gopikrishna stated.
Presently, the recycling plots at Alang also aren’t big enough to accommodate bigger vessels.
“The Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) is in the process of doubling the size of the ship recycling plots which are now restricted to 150 metres. The policy is being reviewed to have larger plots. There will be amalgamation of plots and in future there will be amalgamated plots which can accommodate whatever the vessel sizes are based on the requirements. Rather than making all the plots of uniform size, it is better to cater to different sizes depending upon the requirements,” Gopikrishna added.
Explaining the significance of scrap for steel making and its benefits to the circular economy and decarbonisation efforts globally, Capt Prashant said that every tonne of steel produced currently emits two tonnes of carbon.
“Today, more than 75 percent of the world’s steel is produced from iron ore. But, when steel is produced out of scrap, you cut the emissions by half. So, in a world where we are moving towards de-fossilisation, scrap is a key ingredient to steel making,” he stated.
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Source: The Economic Times
