23/03/2012
Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION requiring Member States to ratify or to accede to the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009, in the interests of the European Union
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The development and continuation of unsound and unsafe practices of ship
dismantling is a matter of serious concern. At the end of their
operating life, most of the large commercial seagoing vessels are still
dismantled in substandard facilities located in Asia (India, Pakistan
and
Bangladesh), usually through "beaching" method and with significant environmental and health impacts.
The situation is expected to worsen since large numbers of ships are
expected to be sent for dismantling in the coming years as a result of
an overcapacity of the world fleet which is estimated to remain for at
least 5 to 10 years. In addition, the coming peak in ship recycling
around the phasing-out date for single-hull tankers (2015) is expected to essentially benefit the most sub-standard facilities.
The current legislation1 at international and European levels has proven
ineffective to put an end to these ship recycling practices.
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