German shipowner contracts GL for ship recycling

Germanischer Lloyd (GL) has been contracted to issue certificates for the fleet of 33 existing and 18 new container vessels according to the new IMO Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (Hong Kong Convention). Thomas Schulte is the first shipping company worldwide that has committed itself to voluntarily follow the Hong Kong Convention which might come into effect in the next few years.

The Hong Kong Convention adopted at a Diplomatic Conference in Hong Kong (May 2009), aims to improve standards of safety and environmental protection at recycling of ships. The Convention will require ships to have an inventory of hazardous materials (IHM). The IHM is a ship specific document that lists all the materials onboard a ship that may be hazardous to people’s health or the environment, and that require careful handling or special awareness.

Heidrich, technical director of Ocean Shipmanagement, the in-house technical manager of Reederei Thomas Schulte, will be implementing the upcoming Hong Kong Convention for safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships with immediate effect. Heidrich notes:

“We consider ship recycling as an integral part of life cycle management of ships. Our responsibility for the vessels is beginning at the design and construction stage and ends with the demolition. Ships have to be recycled at the end of their operational life in a safe and environmental sound manner.”

The Hong Kong convention will make an IHM mandatory for all new and existing ships above 500 grt, which covers all materials used for construction and equipment of ships. The focus lies on materials which have already been identified as hazardous internationally but which might still be found in shipyards, ship-repair yards, and especially onboard ships. Therefore the main focus for the shipping industry is the preparation and maintenance of an IHM for each vessel in order to reduce the risks for crewmembers and, in line with the main focus of the Hong Kong Convention, workers in recycling yards by providing a sound source of information.

For new ships the IHM preparation is relying fully on exchange of information between shipyards and their suppliers. Development of effective processes is essential as thousands of documents have to be exchanged.

Aiming for the same accuracy and also effective IHM preparations for existing ships, makes expert knowledge indispensable. Therefore Ocean Shipmanagement has contracted the GL approved HazMat expert company Environmental Protection Engineering S.A. from Greece to prepare the IHM. As globally approximately 50,000 existing vessels will have to comply with the Hong Kong Convention within five years, a huge demand is foreseeable and consequently early implementation will allow for a smoother preparation and certification.

The Hong Kong Convention also creates a new obligation for ship owners to sell their redundant ships only to recycling facilities that meet the standards and have been authorized by the national ‘competent authorities’. Ship recycling facilities will be required to prepare a ‘Ship Recycling Plan’, to specify the processes how the specific ship will be recycled, depending on its particulars and its IHM. All involved parties will be required to take effective measures to ensure that ship recycling facilities under their jurisdiction comply with the Hong Kong Convention.