India Accedes to Ship Recycling Convention
India, one of the world's five major ship recycling countries, has acceded to the IMO Hong Kong Convention, the treaty that will set global standards for safe and environmentally-sound ship recycling.India's accession brings this important convention a significant step closer to entering into force, with the required 15 States now party to it and with India's ship recycling volume considerably contributing to the required recycling capacity.The Hong Kong Convention1 covers the design, construction, operation and maintenance of ships to ensure they can be recycled safely and in an environment-friendly way at the end of their lives. It also deals with how ships should be prepared for their final voyage to a recycling facility…
In a First, Container Cargo Vessel on Brahmaputra
The first ever containerized cargo movement via Indo-Bangladesh protocol route and Brahmaputra (National Waterway -2) river will start from West Bengal's Haldia Today."In line with Government’s focus on improving connectivity to the North Eastern Region (NER), a landmark container cargo consignment will sail on inland waterways from Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) to the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) terminal at Pandu in Guwahati on 4 November, 2019," said a government release.Gopal Krishna, Secretary (Shipping) will flag off the inland vessel MV Maheshwari carrying 53 TEUs (containers) of petrochemicals, edible oil and beverage etc.
India's ‘Sagarmala’ Receives Gold Award
Indian Ministry of Shipping’s flagship program for port-led-prosperity ‘Sagarmala’ received the ‘Gold Award’ in infrastructure sector in the recently concluded 52nd Skoch Summit 2018 in New Delhi, recognizing the programmes’s contribution to India’s socio-economic transformation and it's role in propelling fast-track growth and infrastructure development. The Sagarmala Programme also received the ‘Order of Merit’ at the Summit. The Secretary (Shipping) Gopal Krishna shared the award with Minister for Shipping Nitin Gadkari. The Skoch Awards recognize leadership and excellence in accelerating socio-economic changes. These awards have become a benchmark of best practices in India in the fields of governance…
Don't Scrap This Ship in India Environmentalists Plead
Toxics Watch Alliance warns imminent arrival of end-of-life German ship 'Northern Vitality' breaches Indian Supreme Court Order. "This is to inform you that in violation of the Supreme Court order dated July 30, 2012, Northern Vitality, a 15-year-old ship owned by German company “Norddeutsche Vermögen Holding GmbH & Co” and chartered by Swiss company MSC is headed for the shipbreaking beach of Alang, Bhavnagar, Gujarat. I am copying this message to Mr Michael Steiner, German Ambassador to India besides other concerned authorities. I have learnt that in the ongoing saga of Alang's existence as a graveyard of ships and migrant workers last month four workers died in Alang beach.
'Exxon Valdez' Can be Scrapped by Alang Decides Supreme Court
The ship may now be dismantled at the Alang Ship Recycling Yard in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. The Supreme Court, however, also ruled that in future no vessel should be dismantled in the country in contravention of the Basel Convention, an international treaty on cross-boundary movement of hazardous wastes that, among others, insists on prior consent by the host country and prior decontamination of vessels in the country of origin. The entry of the former oil tanker, which gained notoriety for running aground and spilling crude oil on the Alaskan coast in 1989…
India Now World's Top Ship-breaking Centre
India emerges as the world's largest centre of ship-breaking with 415 ships demolished in the ship-breaking yards of Alang in 2011-12. Another 150 giant behemoths, used to ferry millions of tons of goods across the globe but no longer seaworthy, are waiting there to be broken down, informs 'Asian Age'. Pakistan has emerged as the number two ship-breaking country followed by Bangladesh and China, but in the latter country ships are broken in dry docks and not along the coast. Gopal Krishna, heading Toxics Watch Alliance, said, “The number of ships allowed to enter the country are steadily rising because of the lax regulatory climate prevailing here.
Ex-'Exxon Valdez' Refused Entry by India
The ship, now known as the "Oriental Nicety," entered Indian waters last week and was headed for Gujarat, when the Supreme Court gave its order, according to a news report in 'The Times of India'. The ship was bought recently by the Hong Kong-based subsidiary of an Indian shipbreaking firm and was being taken to the coastal town of Alang, the hub of India's shipbreaking industry, for dismantling. After the court's order, Gujarat maritime authorities and the state's pollution control authorities withdrew the permission they had granted to the company to anchor the ship near the Alang beach.
