The majority of ships have a 25-30 year lifecycle before reduced efficiency, increased wear and tear, and costly repairs make their continued service unprofitable.
Usually, at this point, for both commercial and environmental reasons, it is sensible to scrap the ship and recycle its materials.
Today, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India account for around 90% of the world’s scrapping capacity for large ships. Although there are significant differences between the ship-breaking locations, the conditions in many of them are totally incompatible with the expectations and demands we otherwise set for the industry, concerning health, safety, and the environment.
By necessity, the dismantling of ships has to occur at the coast, where land meets the sea. There is currently no clear and unambiguous definition of the term “beaching.” In its simplest form, it describes an activity where large vessels are driven up onto beaches to be manually dismantled.
We define “beaching” as “the recycling of ships without the use of fixed installations for collection and handling of dangerous and polluting waste.”
Witnessing the conditions workers endure on many of the beaches at these so-called ship-breaking yards, makes a strong impression. In addition, a common feature of beaching practices is that ships are deposited at beaches situated on unprotected coastlines, meaning that tide-waters wash over and then discharge hazardous substances into the surrounding environment.
There is a lack of infrastructure in place for the scrapped ships, and this makes it difficult to use cranes and other heavy tools, which would normally be required in the proper dismantling of large vessels. As a result, the operations often pose great risk to the health and well-being of workers, in addition to the damage they cause to the environment. We are also aware that the actual conditions in many of these places have barely improved over recent years.
This is unacceptable. There is a responsibility for both ship-owners and authorities to ensure both responsible practices and acceptable standards for this industry.
The NSA has, for many years, worked internationally to improve standards in ship-breaking. For a globalised industry such as shipping, only a binding frame-work of international rules will ensure uniform higher standards. Together with the Norwegian authorities, we have been at the vanguard of efforts to establish a regulatory frame-work under the auspices of the UN.
The result was the Hong Kong Convention of 2009, a milestone in the campaign to improve conditions at ship-breaking yards. The convention includes a requirement to provide documented plans to ensure the safe-guarding of the environment and the security of employees.
It remains a major challenge that this convention, six years after it was initially adopted, has yet to enter into force due to a lack of ratification from participating countries. Norway is one of only three countries that have so far ratified the convention.
This is dragging on much too long, and the NSA is working actively in international forums to help accelerate the protracted ratification process. In the near future we will, amongst other things, participate in a delegation together with the European Shipowners’ Association (ECSA) visiting some of the major Asian ship-breaking nations to initiate a dialogue on what can practicably be done to stimulate faster development in line with the provisions of the Hong Kong convention.
At the same time, the NSA has, and is, taking responsibility independently, giving the following advice to its members:
We consider that ship-owners have an independent responsibility to ensure proper recycling of their ships. This also applies to ships sold to third parties prior to recycling.
We urge our members to adhere to the Hong Kong Convention, although it has not yet entered into force, and to choose recycling facilities that adhere to the Hong Kong Convention.
We advise our members against recycling ships at yards using “beaching” as a method.
Taking this stand comes with a price tag to our members. Selling to beaching yards often results in a payback of between $3-7million more per ship than they would receive if choosing a more responsible, full standard scrapping yard.
Nevertheless, we, as one of the largest and strongest ship-owner communities, want to give a clear indication of what we expect from a responsible, environmentally friendly and modern, quality shipping industry.
