Is shipping ready for the Hong Kong Convention?

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MOST end-of-life ships usually meet their demise on the beaches of the Indian subcontinent or Aliaga in Türkiye, with the ship recycling industry not being known for a culture of safety or environmental consciousness.

But the long-term efforts of NGOs, regulators, flag states, shipowners and the recycling industry have done much to improve things in recent years. This culminated in the landmark Hong Kong Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships entering into force on June 26 this year.

Lloyd’s List markets editor Rob Willmington spoke to recycling industry stakeholders to find out why the Hong Kong Convention is so significant and what its implementation means for shipowners. At the same time, we asked following three years of negligible ship recycling because of strong shipping markets, when will the sale of old ships finally start to pick up again?

Joining Rob on this week’s episode are:

• Anil Sharma, chief executive, GMS

• Tone Knudsen Fiskeseth, principal consultant, Environment Advisory, DNV

• Nikos Mikelis, chairperson, BIMCO Ship Recycling Alliance

• Hitesh Vyas, vice-president Middle East and green recycling coordinator, Wirana