Maritime Addresses Ship Recycling Issues
May 15, 2009, Hong Kong, China – A five-day Diplomatic Conference, held in Hong Kong, China, recently addressed ship recycling issues to help ensure that ships, when being recycled after reaching the end of their operational lives, do not pose any unnecessary risk to human health and safety or to the environment. The Liberia Maritime Program was represented at the meeting by Commissioner Kesselly, along with a team of Senior Staff from the Bureau of Maritime Affairs and the Liberia International Ship & Corporate Registry. Commissioner Kesselly served as an Officer of the Conference, namely a Vice President.
The meeting resulted in the adoption of a new international Convention on ship recycling. The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009 is aimed at ensuring that ships, when being recycled after reaching the end of their operational lives do not pose unnecessary risk to human health and safety or to the environment. The Convention was attended by delegates from 63 countries. The new Convention intends to address all the issues around ship recycling, including the fact that ships sold for scrapping may contain environmentally hazardous substances such as asbestos, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, ozone-depleting substances and others. It will address concerns raised about the working and environmental conditions at many of the world's ship recycling locations.
A series of guidelines are being developed to assist in the Convention's implementation. The Convention shall be open for signature by any State at the Headquarters of the Organization from 1 September 2009 to 31 August 2010 and shall thereafter remain open for accession by any State. It will enter into force 24 months after the date on which 15 States, representing 40 per cent of world merchant shipping by gross tonnage, have either signed it without reservation as to ratification, acceptance or approval or have deposited instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the Secretary-General.
For more information on the Convention, please click here.
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