Ship Recycling Industries News

The shipping industry has long been criticised by campaigners for allowing vessels to be broken up on beaches, endangering workers and polluting the sea and sand. Now, it is being called to account from a quarter that may have a bit more clout - its financial backers. Norway's $1 trillion Oil Fund, a leader in ethical investing, in February sold its stake in four firms because they scrap on the beach. Three of the firms excluded by Norway's fund - Taiwan's Evergreen Marine, Precious Shipping and Thoresen Thai Agencies (TTA) of Thailand - say they have been unfairly singled out.

All the hazardous waste generated in ship recycling at Alang are being disposed off in safe and environmentally sound manner in Gujarat Pollution Control Board authorized Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF) site operated by Gujarat Maritime Board. Landfills are constructed as per the Guidelines of Central Pollution Control Board and provided with liner system in bottom which prevents leachate to percolate to the sub-soil. Monitoring of environmental parameters is done by Gujarat Pollution Control Board regularly. Regular health checkup for the workers is also conducted by GMB. Environmental Impact Assessment is carried out whenever creation of new yards or expansion and upgradation of existing yards is taken up.

Ship recycling yards in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh need to be part of the global scheme of sound ship recycling and those yards in Alang which have invested in fully upgrading their facilities to meet the terms of internationally-agreed rules should be rewarded by winning more business. This was the view expressed by Akihiro Tamura, Director of Shipbuilding Policy at the Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro), shortly after returning from a fact finding trip to Indian recycling yards in Alang.

Japan may help India in boosting the country's ship recycling industry. It is learnt that a 14-member Japanese delegation comprising representatives from government departments and shipping industry association, who visited Alang-Sosiya ship recycling yard in Bhavnagar (Gujarat, India) expressed its willingness to aid improving the facility there. The Ship Recycling Yard at Alang located near Bhavnagar in Gujarat State on the western coast of Gulf of Cambay is claimed to be the largest ship recycling yard in the world, in terms of number of ships being dismantled. Indian Express, a prominent newspaper in the country quoted Mitsuhiko Ida…

The working and living conditions at the shipbreaking yards of Alang, India, remain alarmingly poor, argues a new study published in the Economic & Political Weekly, an Indian Social Science journal. The research was commissioned and financed by the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) and was coordinated by Dr. Geetanjoy Sahu from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). TISS’ findings are based on field work in Alang from April 2013 to May 2014 including interviews with 300 shipbreaking workers as well as stakeholders from the industry, trade unions and authorities.

In ten years, India Shipping Summit held consistently in Mumbai, has sailed on a robust growth course despite the worldwide witnessing recessionary waves buffeting any endeavors to grow and gain. The reasons are not too far to see. From the very beginning it has been reputed to be a mega event of South East Asia. It sought consistently to bring government representatives and the leading lights of the industry on to a common platform thus acting as a beacon for the country’s maritime trade to move on the road to progress. It has continued to garner support from every section of the trade and industry each time the event has taken place. This year the three-day event held last week brought together a bigger gathering of shipping elites and the who’s who in the industry.

A realistic picture at the grass root level of the ship breaking industry in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan unfolded at the’ 3rd Ship Annual conference on Ship Recycling on the Indian Sub-continent’ held on 18th September 2014 at Taj-President Mumbai. Organized by the world renowned Hinode, the event drew participants from various quarters of the globe especially ship builders, recyclers, classification societies representatives, government regulators, charterers, cash buyers and host of others from allied fields. From the deliberations it was evident that the Indian ship recycling industry is not ready to ratify the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships.

Delegate registeration for the 3rd India Ship Recycling Conference is going on at a hot pace with a lot of interest having generated with the new Indian Government coming up with a robust growth policy for the Indian Maritime sector. In fact most of the world's ship recycling activity takes place in this region and is known to have tremendous job potential. This major conference of South East Asia is set to take place on September 18, 2014 at Hotel Vivanta by Taj Mumbai. A number of government officials, head honchos of shipping industry, several overseas delegates and other related interests are schudeled to attend the one-day conference.

The new European Regulation on ship recycling (Regulation (EU) No 1257/2013) was published on December 10, 2013 in the Official Journal of the European Union and it will enter into force on December 30, 2013. In view of the international importance of the new Regulation GMS followed very closely and contributed advice towards its development. It is paramount that the implementation of the new Regulation by the European Commission in the next two years will be guided by realism and a clear understanding of the dynamics of the industry, and not by the impractical, not thought-out, and irrational campaigns to ban beaching. Over this period the industry will need to be alert so as to contribute its knowledge and guidance to the European Commission.

The new IMO convention on Ship Recycling and the EU Proposal for Regulation of Ship Recycling are being viewed with concern by ship recyclers in Alang, India. If these come into force it is possible this world’s biggest grave yard for ships will have to close down. Alang is considered natures’ gift to the Indian ship recycling industry. Located in Gujarat, on the West coast of India, the shipyards in Alang recycle approximately half of all ships salvaged around the world. Having come into existence in June 1983, Alang, today encompasses over 180 ship yards stretching across 11 km of the coast line and is presently engaged in dismantling over 150 ships simultaneously. During 2011-12, Alang had achieved a record 415 ships’ demolition.

In preparation for the 49th. certain heavy oils to double-hulled vessels only. June. seek parallel revisions to MARPOL Annex 1. conclude an agreement. and any potential environmental benefits. of the CAS proposals, including the additional survey workload. date, and some countries may not choose to adopt these amendments.