Turku Completes Ship Recycling Project

The Ship Recycling project at the Turku Repair Yard in Naantali in Finland has been completed.

In the three-year project, funded by Tekes, six vessels were dismantled and recycled on an experimental basis. The background of the project is the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, which states that after 2018, EU-flagged or European-owned vessels can only be recycled on shipyards approved for that purpose.

In the past, majority of the world’s fleet has ended up being scrapped in Asia under conditions that do not meet European safety and environmental standards. There is a growing need for sustainable ship recycling in Europe due to tighter requirements and a general shift in attitudes.

“The ship recycling business in Finland is justified from the point of view of national economy and security of supply, as well as from the environmental point of view, because the standards are high”, says Jussi Mälkiä, Chairman of the Board of Meriaura.

Meriaura was involved in the project in finding and acquiring the recyclable vessels, supervising the recycling operations, and supplying and transporting recyclable materials for reuse.

The vessels recycled within the project were between 12 and 82 meters long and were mechanically dismantled either by an excavator equipped with a cutting tool or by oxy-fuel cutting.  

The recycling project of small vessels carried out at the Turku Repair Yard achieved significant publicity in Finland. The ambiguity of the legislation, as well as the negative attitude brought up by an external party towards ship recycling resulted a complaint that lengthened the project unnecessarily.

All hazardous waste and non-recyclable materials from the dismantled ships have been safely and properly disposed, the scrap metal has been sorted and recycled back to raw material and there were no emissions into the environment.