The European Union (EU) is working very hard to make ship recycling greener and safer in the future. It is quite clear that the dismantling of ships in many parts of South Asia in its current state is not acceptable, either from an environmental or a social point of view. Ship recycling regulations, adopted seven years ago, are finally gathering pace now. In particular, the regulation firstly prohibits or restricts the installation and use of hazardous materials such as asbestos or ozone depleting substances on board ships. 

In addition, as early as the end of this year, from 31 December 2020, in accordance with the European Union Ship Recycling Regulations (EUSRR), ships of 500 gross tonnage and upwards with the EU member state flag and all other ships, regardless of country of origin, will be required to keep an inventory of hazardous substances and materials (IHM) when visiting an EU or European Economic Area (EEA) port. New European ships and EU-flagged ships which are being dismantled must have this list of hazardous materials (IHM), inspected by the relevant administration or authority, indicating the location and approximate quantity of these materials.

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COVID-19 is stirring things up

However, as a result of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, many ship-owners may not be able to complete the required Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) before the deadline. To this end the British and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) recommends that its members firstly develop an IHM on older ships. Older ships are usually recycled more quickly, and such planning will show that ship-owners are proactive in meeting the requirements of the new EU regulations.

In addition, as members of BIMCO, www.strategies.lv has already written to the European Commission and asked for favourable conditions for all parties concerned regarding the deadlines for shipping companies to complete the IHM process while dealing with COVID-19 limitations and outages. The letter also includes a set of industry guidelines on compliance with EU ship recycling regulations and the establishment of an inventory of hazardous materials, which BIMCO members are encouraged to use.

It is now known that the new regulation will affect approximately 137 (58%) of the 236 BIMCO member vessels. Only 33 ships have completed their work on this, while the rest are in various stages of development in an attempt to meet these new requirements. www.strategies.lv is propounding streamlining of the system, but it also wants it to be a reasonably achievable condition for all market participants and for this new bureaucratic burden not to further restrict companies which are already hit by the pandemic.