23 Sep 2013 Last updated at 06:18:29 GMT
LONDON (Scrap Monster) : The European Commission and the European Parliament have reached an agreement on the text of the much-awaited ship recycling regulation. The text would be published in the official EU journal and will come into force within 20 days from the date of publication.
The new regulation will be applicable to commercial vessels of more than 500 GT. The ship owners must maintain an Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM). All ships flying under EU flag must have IHM. Also, all ships entering European ports will have to present the IHM to port state control authorities.
The EU ship owners henceforth can recycle their ships only at EU approved facilities whether inside EU or in third countries. The ship recycling facility engaged by the ship owner has to initially prepare a ‘ship recycling plan’ to the EU flag state administration or respective authorities. Such a plan should outline the handling of hazardous materials in detail. The EU flag state administration upon verification of the plan shall issue a ‘ready for recycling’ certificate. The recycling facility must inform the EU flag administration when the recycling of the ship is completed.
The EU ship recycling program is scheduled to come into effect either towards the end of this year or by early next year.
Author: Paul Ploumis
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