46 May 2013
Europe steers
away from
the rocks
The International Conference on Ship Recycling (ShipRec) was held
in the Swedish city of Malmö, a few days ahead of a crucial
European Parliament vote on a controversial recycling levy. The
impending ballot provided a focus – and even an added edge – to
the conference debate.
The European Parliament averted potential chaos in the global shipping trade when it
narrowly voted on April 18 against the intro-
duction of a levy on all cargo vessels calling at
EU ports, irrespective of their flag.
The levy formed part of a proposed amendment
to the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, adopted in
principle by the European Commission in March
2012. This regulation, based on the Hong Kong
International Convention for Safe and Environ-
mentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC), will
make a number of additional requirements and
is subject to further amendment.
In his proposal, Carl Schlyter, a Swedish Member
of the European Parliament, sought to impose
a charge of Euro 0.05 per gross ton per port call
which would have been paid into a central fund.
Ship owners would have been reimbursed for
disposing of the vessel in an EC-approved recy-
cling yard. Owners would also have had the
option of paying an annual fee or of making one
upfront, lifetime payment per vessel.
Carrot rather than a stick
Speaking at the International Conference on
Ship Recycling (ShipRec) in Malmö, Sweden,
some 10 days ahead of the vote, Schlyter said
yards within or outside Europe could qualify
for the ‘approved list’, so the amended regula-
tion would not specifically exclude recyclers in
South Asia. However, yards would have to meet
more demanding standards than those laid
down in the HKC, which the International
Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted in 2009
but which, as Schlyter pointed out, was still a
long way from ratification.
Even when ratified, the HKC would not be
tough enough to ‘stop the export of toxic waste’
or to ‘end dangerous beaching’, Schlyter claimed.
‘The vast majority of ship recycling operations
are not up to scratch. The HKC is a step in the
right direction, but we can go beyond it by
introducing a financial instrument that makes
it financially right for the ship owner to dispose
of a vessel in an environmentally sound way.’
S h i p b r e a k i n g By Martin Roebuck
International Conference
on Ship Recycling
‘The vast majority
of ship recycling
operations are not
up to scratch.’
RI-4_Shipbreaking2.indd 46 03-05-13 13:53
