Page 42 from: November 2014
42 November 2014
EU puts squeeze
on Asian yards
Indian ship dismantlers have angrily denounced the EU’s planned
introduction of tougher regulations. Representatives of the world’s
largest ship recycling nation, attending Informa’s latest Ship Recycling
Conference in London, were equally dismissive of the Hong Kong
Convention in a stand-off that leaves ship owners questioning how
they will be able to dispose of end-of-life vessels in a safe and envi-
ronmentally responsible manner.
The provisions of the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (SRR) are impracticable and
amount to foreign intervention in India’s
affairs, according to Haresh Parmar, honorary
joint secretary of the Ship Recycling Industries
Association (India).
Alang on the coast of Gujarat in north-west
India, the world’s largest ship recycling site,
attracts particular criticism from the environ-
mental and health lobbies because most of the
ships dismantled on its beach contain hazard-
ous wastes such as PCBs and asbestos. Although
the latest international standards do not direct-
ly prohibit beaching, in effect they do so by
specifying that cutting should be carried out
on ‘fixed structures’ such as slipways and that
working surfaces should be impermeable.
Alang’s location and the small sizes of indi-
vidual plots made it difficult to comply, Parmar
argued at the recent Ship Recycling Conference
in London. ‘Our code is as good as Hong Kong
(the Hong Kong Convention) or the EU regula-
tion,’ he said, referring to a verdict of India’s
Supreme Court in 2006 which effectively laid
down a framework for how India’s ship recy-
clers should operate.
Beaching essential
The court decision related to the Blue Lady, a
French vessel sold to a recycler at Alang in 2006
after the Bangladeshi government refused entry
because of the hazardous waste it contained.
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were
concerned that the vessel could not be disman-
tled in a safe and environmentally friendly man-
ner at Alang, and filed a petition to try to prevent
it, but the court decided the work could go ahead.
Parmar told the conference that India’s ship
recycling code covered all the requirements of
the Hong Kong Convention (HKC) and the
SRR, but made clear: ‘Beaching is our bread and
butter. No beaching, no industry in India.’
Ruling out Indian ratification of the HKC, he
said: ‘We can’t invest millions of dollars. No
discussion is possible.’
There was now regular monitoring of gas emis-
sions, sea water and the soil surrounding
Alang’s recycling sites, Parmar claimed. Clas-
sification societies had certified many yards as
‘green’ and meeting ISO standards. A method-
ology for double bottom cutting had been
devised to avoid contamination, and improved
systems were in place for cleaning tanks and
removing asbestos and radioactive materials.
Parmar stressed that workers were now thor-
oughly trained, and their health more closely
monitored. ‘There is improvement in the work-
ing culture but the industry is over-regulated,’ he
complained, contrasting India’s commitment to
responsible recycling with the situation in China.
Ship recycling facility plans
Junichi Hirata, deputy general manager at Class
NK’s practical R&D promotion division, said his
organisation had completed its analysis of five
ship recycling facility plans (SRFPs) as required
under the HKC, and was under way with eight
more. The process involved pre-assessment, study
of relevant legislation, gap analysis and the draw-
ing-up of improvement plans where required,
Hirata said. Gap analysis at the Alang facility
showed that the best recyclers were already pull-
ing vessels up onto an impermeable floor.
Primary block cutting in an inter-tidal zone was
not prohibited under the HKC, only the drop-
ping of blocks into the water. It was also neces-
sary to clean beaches as soon as possible after
pulling blocks over them. However, Hirata
pointed out that this was not allowed under the
EU’s SRR because it did not permit leakage in
inter-tidal zones, so new technologies or safer
locations would be needed.
S h i p b r e a k i n g By Martin Roebuck
India and the ship recycling impasse
Emilien Gasc: ‘Too many nuan-
ces to beaching.’
Haresh Parmar: ‘No discussion is
possible.’
RI-9_Shipbreaking.indd 42 10-11-14 16:49
