Posted by The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships , or Hong Kong Convention is a mulitateral convention adopted in 2009, which has not entered into force. The conference was created by 63 countries, and overseen by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which is a specialist agency of the United Nations (UN). [1]
The agreement has-been designed to try to Improve the health and safety of current ship breaking practices. Ship breaking is considered to be “among the most dangerous of occupations, with unacceptably high levels of fatalities, injuries and work-related diseases” [2] by the ILO as a whole. personal protective equipment (PPE). This is most common in Asia, with India, Bangladesh, China , and Pakistan holding the largest ship breaking yards. [3]
The Hong Kong Convention Recognized That ship recycling is The Most environmentally sound way to have of a ship at the end of life icts, as MOST of the ship’s materials can be reused. However, it sees current methods as unacceptable. The work Sees Many injuries and fatalities to workers, As They Lack the proper safety equipment to handle the wide ship Correctly as it is dismantled and MOST vessels Contain a wide amount of hazardous materials Such as asbestos , PCBs , TBT , and CFCs , qui can also lead to highly life-threatening diseases such as mesothelioma and lung cancer. [4]
Inventory of Hazardous Materials
The Inventory of Hazardous Materials has been designed to minimize the dangers of these hazards. The Convention has olefins hazard as: “any material or substance qui is liable to create hazards to human health and / or the environment .” [5]
All vessels over 500 gross tonnes (GT) That are in commercial service (the agreement does not apply to warships or naval auxiliary or ships operating Their whole life only in waters subject to the sovereignty or jurisdiction of the State Whose flag the ship is Entitled to fly) will have to comply with the convention Each party does not want to comply with the rules of the game. [6]
New ships must all carry an Inventory of Hazardous Materials. The inventory will list all ‘hazardous materials’ on board the vessel, including their amounts and locations. Existing ships must comply with the convention before coming into force. The inventory will remain with a vessel throughout its lifetime, as these may be potentially contained hazards. The presence of the inventory will then ensure the safety of crew members during the vessel’s working life, and also the safety of workers during the recycling process.
Signature, Ratification and accession
The convention was open for signature between 1 September 2009 and 31 August 2010, and remained open for accession afterwards. It will enter into power two years after “15 states, Representing 40% of the world merchant shipping by gross tonnage, and we average 3% of recycling tonnage for the previous 10 years,-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 “. [7] None of these conditions was met as of 2017:
| Criterion | requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Parties | 15 | 6 |
| Gross Tonnage of Merchant Shipping | 40% | 21.23% |
| Recycling tonnage in past 10 years | 3% | 0.0423% |
The convention was signed by 5 states, 1 of which ratified it. In addition, 5 states have acceded tot he convention.
| State | Signature | Ratification / Accession |
Entry into Force | Territorial Application |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| belgium | March 7, 2016 | |||
| Denmark | 14 June 2017 | not applicable to Greenland and Faroe Islands | ||
| la France | 19 November 2009 | 2 July 2014 | full territory | |
| italy | 2 August 2010 | |||
| Netherlands | April 21, 2010 | |||
| norway | June 26, 2013 | |||
| Panama | 19 September 2016 | |||
| Republic of the Congo | May 19, 2014 | |||
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | 27 August 2010 | |||
| turkey | 26 August 2010 |
Relation to EU instruments
The EU Ship Recycling Regulation [8] is of importance in this respect. The European Union, European shipowners, European shipowners, ship recycling facilities It also requires the Commission to adopt a number of rules implementing the Regulation. For the Inventory of Hazardous Materials required by the EU regulation, there are additional substances listed as prohibited. [9]
References
- Jump up^ “International Maritime Organization” . imo.org . Retrieved 18 January2017 .
- Jump up^ “IShip-breaking: a hazardous work” . ilo.org . Retrieved 18 September2017 .
- Jump up^ Mikelis, Nikos. http://www.imo.org/includes/blastDataOnly.asp/data_id%3D23449/shiprecycling.pdf”A statistical overview of ship recycling”, September 2007. Retrieved on 22 September 2010
- Jump up^ “Archived copy” . Archived from the original on 6 September 2010 . Retrieved 22 September 2010 . Retrieved on 22 September 2010
- Jump up^http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/ships/pdf/Convention.pdfRetrieved on 22 September 2010
- Jump up^ International Maritime Organizationhttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/ships/pdf/Convention.pdf’agenda item 8′ Retrieved on 11 March 2015
- Jump up^ http://www.imo.org/Environment/mainframe.asp?topic_id=818Retrieved on 22 September 2010
- Jump up^ Ship recycling – Waste – Environment – European Commission . europa.eu . Retrieved 18 January 2017 .
- Jump up^ “EUR-Lex – 52012PC0118 – EN – EUR-Lex” . europa.eu . Retrieved 18 January 2017 .