ISRA Network

News item no. 5, February 2019 The Netherlands ratifies Hong Kong Convention   The ratification of the Netherlands by the Hong Kong Convention is scheduled next Wednesday, 20 February 2019. Then, on behalf of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Netherlands will hand over the official deed of acceptance of the Hong Kong Convention to the Secretary-General of the IMO.The Netherlands is then the 8^th* country that ratifies the Hong Kong Convention. *Countries that have ratified the HKC: Belgium, Congo, Denmark, France, Norway, Turkey and Panama.

News item no. 4, February 2019 Director ISRA visits Turkish yards  A vessel landing Reinoud Pijpers visited (the first week of February 2019) the yards of a number of (new) ISRA members. Reinoud had the excellent opportunity not only to visit the various yards but also to have an exchange of views with several yard owners. The yards concerned: Avsar, Isiksan, Leyal, Leyal Demtas, Simsekler, SOK and Temurtaslar are all on the same spot. The method of recycling is landing. After the main parts of the ship are removed, the ship is pulled ashore for further demolition. Of course, the ships are in that phase demolished at a concrete floor and a drainage system prevents (oil) spills running into water. The downstream waste is carried out jointly, by all the yards concerned. The Ship Recycling Association Turkey, SRAT, situated close to the premises of the yards plays an active role in the waste management of the downstream of waste. ISRA had also the possibility to exchange views with the SRAT. Membership of ISRA is highly appreciated by the newly appointed chairman of the SRAT. During my visit the good news was received that Turkey had ratified the Hong Kong Convention (HKC). Though the government had one condition: a ship recycling plan should be presented for approval to the Turkeys authority. With this condition, the Turkeys authorities will stay to play an important role on the enforcement of the HKC. It was not clear whether this role will also be applicable for the EU-listed yards. During the various talks it was clear that being on the EU-list is very important.  Membership of ISRA lies in the same line. The Turkish yards concerned see ISRA as an organization that represents the (Turkish)-ship recycling yards very well on a global scale.  

News item 3, February 2019 Secretary General ISRA, Bernard Veldhoven, was invited by the European Commission (EC) on 1 February to attend an expert meeting with the EC and the member states. ECSA and NGO-platform were also invited. One of the reasons for the EC to organize this meeting was to facilitate member states to a direct exchange of views concerning the entry of force of the new EU Ship Recycling Regulation. One of the main issues related to his new regulation, is the capacity needed and the capacity available. ECSA published figures concerning this field. The EC, NGO and ISRA thoroughly scrutinized the capacity issue and shared the conclusion that the needed capacity for ship recycling at EU-(listed) yards was more than sufficient. ISRA emphasized during the meeting that the EU ship recycling yards are keen to receive (EU-flagged) ships in order to fill the under capacity. ISRA also pointed out that requests for quotations are up till now minimal and sometimes fake which makes it difficult for the EU-yards to treat them seriously. ISRA made its position very clear to the member states that only high standard yards should be listed as its members are. ECSA repeatedly maintained that HKC is the only (global) solution, implicitly stating that without this global instrument, ship owners are confronted with a non-level playing field forcing them to choose for the beaches. Some member states were very surprised ECSA did not openly support during the meeting the efforts done by the EC and the MS. ECSA also had difficulty denying that India, as soon as the HKC gets into force, will make all Indian yards “HKC-compliant” in order to protect its own substandard industry. NGO shipbreaking made it very clear that the supposed positive effects of the ship recycling industry for Bangladesh are very disputable since only 18000 workers on a total population of 140 million people might have any advantage, if any, given the regular and on-going casualties. Furthermore, only a small part of steel is used, since the quality is so bad that it is not fit to be used for important structures.          

News item No. 2  January 2019 Visit European Commissioner Vella, Galloo Ghent On January the 8^th, an EU delegation led by EU Commissioner Karmenu Vella, responsible for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, visited the Galloo yard in Ghent. Mr Vella was guided through the yard by Director of the yard Peter Wyntin. Peter Wyntin showed him the various measures that have been taken to enable sound and safe recycling. He explained him that only through huge and costly investments these facilities can operate in a responsible way. He referred to the illegal exports of end of life ships from the EU(flag) and stated that those exports harm the competition position of responsible yards severely. After the visit, Mr. Vella was informed about the figures of the Galloo yard. Secretary General lSRA Bernard Veldhoven and Director Reinoud Pijpers used this opportunity to thank him personally for the progress made on the EU- list. They emphasized that the EU Regulation and its Technical Requirements are good instruments for the accession on the list. They underlined a correct application of the requirements. Mr Vella stressed the need for ISRA to expand their members, so that ISRA represents a broad basis for sound and safe ship recycling. In his press statement afterwards, Mr Vella was very clear: “For too long, EU vessels have been dismantled in poor environmental and social conditions. This is not acceptable any longer. The full entry into force of the EU Regulation on ship recycling is a milestone for this sector, as it provides for the first time clear and specific rules on how EU-flagged vessels should be recycled. Like other recycling activities, ship recycling can be carried out sustainably, in a way which is good for workers, the environment and the economy. This is what is happening at the Ghent ship recycling yard and this is what the EU aims at. We count on all actors in the sector to work constructively with us to make it happen”.      

From 14-18th of December 2018 the director of ISRA visited the ship recycling facility Jiangyin Xiagang Changjiang Ship recycling in China. This facility is situated at the Yangtze river in China, and is capable of receiving very large vessels. The recycling process takes place alongside and drydock, for the last part of the vessel. The facilities contain every aspect of sound and safe ship recycling amongst: asbestos storage without possibilities of containment, for a large part of the yard concrete floors, prevention of oil spill facilities and an accurate separation of various (non ferro) metals and waste. Through the large area of the yard separated by well indicated ways, safety enhancement concerning traffic flows can be relatively easily achieved. ISRA also had the opportunity to meet its associate member Sea2cradle. This company is carrying out oversight for the shipowner on a daily basis and checks on safe and sound working on the yard through the permanent presence of surveillance officers during the recycling activities. The Director of ISRA spoke with the owner of the yard, Mr Li Hongwei. He welcomed every support from ISRA and other bodies to the Chinese government to reconsider the ban on waste including end of life ships from the EU. Since this yard and the facilities in Zhoushan, also owned by Li Hongwei were applicants for the EU-list, Mr Li Hongwei emphasized the need to inform the competent authorities in China, to reconsider this decision.

ISRA welcomes further step in green ship recycling

As announced on the website of ISRA, EU-Commissioner Karmenu Vella responsible for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries will visit the advanced ship recycling facilities of Galloo (Ghent) on 8 of January 2019. This visit can be seen as a result of the excellent bilateral contacts between ISRA and the EU- services. Undoubtedly ISRA will also take this opportunity to point out some actual issues. ISRA will raise the issue that applicants for the EU-list need to fulfill all the demands, especially those requirements concerning all aspects of the beaching i.e. preventing waste being in contact with surface water (through tidal waves). The facilities in Gent will illustrate that numerous prevention measures have been taken. The recycling process in Ghent takes place at high standards and show that a competitive disadvantage occurs when these requirements are not applicable for new entries on the EU-list. ISRA invites their members to propose issues that can be raised at this high level meeting and will share the outcome of this visit with its members. Reinoud Pijpers, Director ISRA  

Secretary General and director ISRA visited the Dutch NIBC bank. This bank, together with other banks (amongst them ABN/AMRO, ING, SEB and DNB), are active in formulating a finance policy concerning ship recycling, resulting in a document: ”Responsible Ship Recycling Standards (RSRS)”. Michael de Visser, Global Head of Shipping & Intermodal, in an earlier press statement: “Our discussions with shipowners on RSRS ensure that their interest and willingness to embrace responsible ship recycling standards, is already initiated in an early stage of the life-cycle of a ship”. ISRA embraces this initiative by the banks, since shipowners play a crucial role in the sound and safe recycling of ships. ISRA will stay in close contact with this initiative and is looking for an active participation.