European Recyclers Form Ship Recycling Group
Five European ship recycling yards have joined forces to effectively raise awareness of existing best practice and the fact that there is capacity in Europe to properly recycle ships. The newly established European Ship Recyclers Group (ESR), set up under the umbrella of the International Ship Recycling Association (ISRA), aims at reaching out to ship owners that are looking for clean and safe ship recycling. The NGO Shipbreaking Platform can only welcome this step and vows to support their efforts in attracting more business as long as they maintain sustainable practices. The European Union approved 18 ship recycling facilities with a total capacity of 1.1 million LDT under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation in December last year.
Chinese Yards Apply for EU Regulation on Ship Recycling
Two Chinese ship recycling yards have applied for inclusion of their facilities in the future EU list of Ship Recycling Facilities. The official documents for the application were presented yesterday in Brussels to Julio Burgués, Head of the Unit Waste Management and Recycling of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Environment by Li Hongwei owner of Zhoushan Changhong International Ship Recycling Co., Ltd and Jiang Xiagang Changjiang Shiprecycling Yard. With a capacity of respectively 100 vessels (1.1 million Light Displacement Ton) and 120 vessels (1,2 million LDT) these two yards are the largest ship recycling facilities in the world. The application follows the new Ship Recycling Regulation of the European Commission which was adopted in November 2013.
Economou Backs $300m Green Recycling Initiative
George Economou and broking house Banchero and Costa Spa have both invested in the Green Recycling Initiative launched two weeks ago. The $300m GRI aims to integrate the needs of steel producers to be able to produce ethically sourced steel from traceable scrap and the needs of shipowners to recycle ships in a more environmentally friendly manner. The launch investors were Italy-based Siba Ships and Netherlands-based Seaarland Shipping Management. The Green Recycling Initiative (GRI) is building a fund to buy around 120 obsolete ships during 2009/10. Investors will be drawn from both the shipping and steelmaking industries. It will begin…
Breaking Ships on Tidal Beaches is Illegal
The International Ship Recycling Association (ISRA) is quite clear; Bangladeshi ship breakers who are using tidal beaches are, as ISRA understands the court decision, illegal. The ruling by the Bangladeshi High Court on the petition filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association to close the ship breaking yards is a logical outcome as beaching practices are against future international law. The court order seems to confirm ISRA’s point that the practice of using a tidal beach as a facility for breaking ships is not a safe and environmental appropriate practice for recycling ships. According to ISRA, the International Maritime Organization can do nothing else than to confirm this in the upcoming Convention on Ship Recycling.
I.S.R.A. Appoints Arjen Uytendaal Director
The International Ship Recycling Association has appointed maritime expert Arjen Uytendaal as Director. The Association was founded in 2007 by a group of stakeholders in the ship recycling industry made up of Processing Yards, Classification Societies and a Ship Owner. In order to achieve their goal of promoting green ship recycling - as opposed to the traditional beaching - the organization is now ready for the next step. Arjen Uytendaal, former P&O Nedlloyd director and now independent maritime professional, will be tasked to promote I.S.R.A. among all stakeholders. “It is extremely important that I.S.R.A is recognized as the single authority representing all recycling yards in the world, working to the latest I.M.O.
