- Since the beginning of 2019, the EU has had its own set of rules for ship recycling.
- The rules may even influence shipowners not using an EU flag.
- The Regulation lays down requirements that ships and recycling facilities have to fulfill in order to make sure that ship recycling takes place in an environment sound and safe manner.
EU ship recycling rules can affect non-EU flags, reports BIMCO.
Ship recycling regulations
All ships carrying a flag of an EU member state to be recycled from 31 December 2018 will be required to have a Ready for Recycling Certificate.
This means, among others, these ships shall only be sent to recycling facilities included in the European List of Ship Recycling Facilities (EU List).
From the 31 December 2020, non-EU flagged ships calling or anchoring at an EU port will be required to have an inventory of hazardous materials on board, that identifies at least the hazardous materials required by the EU Regulation.
A statement of compliance shall be issued by the Flag State to ships not flying an EU flag, regardless of whether the Flag State has ratified the Hong Kong Convention.
Extensive authority to PSA
Port State Authorities has been given extensive authority when it comes to controlling recycling documentation.
A foreign ship may even be detained or excluded from EU ports, if it cannot show a statement of compliance in combination with the inventory of hazardous materials, complying with the relevant requirements of the EU Regulation.
Report on the European List of Ship Recycling Facilities can be found here.
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Source: BIMCO
