BIMCO has launched a Ship Recycling Alliance to help accelerate safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships. The alliance will help facilitate the global implementation of the Hong Kong Convention (HKC), but also seeks legal clarity on the interaction between the Basel Convention and the HKC.
In June 2025, the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC) will enter into force. This comes at a time when more than 15,000 ships are estimated to be recycled over the next ten years and the need for compliant yards from main recycling states such as India, Bangladesh and Pakistan is critical.
Today, only a minority of shipowners choose voluntary HKC compliant recycling. Therefore, BIMCO sees co-ordinating the voices of the ship recycling industry and the shipping industry as crucial.
‘Part of the ship recycling industry is already trying to live up to the HKC standards ahead of its entry into force,’ says BIMCO’s Secretary General & CEO, David Loosley. ‘To succeed in having our ships recycled responsibly and safely for people and the environment, we need all stakeholders to engage and step up pace. The Ship Recycling Alliance will connect stakeholders, advise regulators and create awareness among the public.’
Also read: BIMCO and ICS launch guide targeting underwater noise
Seeking legal clarity with Basel Convention
An important task will therefore be to liaise with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Secretariat of the Basel Convention (BC) and the states that are party to these organisations to seek legal clarity on the interaction between both conventions.
This will include assessing, considering and responding to any proposals for future amendments to the HKC, and providing support for the implementation and enforcement of the BC requirements for the management of waste originating from the ship’s recycling process.
Dr. Nikos Mikelis, non-Executive Director of GMS, former IMO Head, Marine Pollution Prevention and Ship Recycling, Marine Environment Division and Chairperson of the alliance: ‘It is high time for an initiative like the Ship Recycling Alliance to be launched and put to work. We need an alliance that can formulate and represent the views of the international ship recycling industry and connect that with all other stakeholders involved. Doing so, we strongly believe we can move forward and fuel progress.’
Also read: ‘IMO has to solve disparities in ship recycling conventions’
Founding members
The founding members of the alliance are BIMCO, the Bangladesh Ship Breakers and Recyclers Association (BSBRA), the Turkish Ship Recycling Industry Association (GEMISANDER), global cash buyer GMS, ship recycling services’ company Guideship, Pakistan Ship Breakers and Recyclers Association (PSBRA), the Ship Recycling Industries Association of India (SRIA), the International Ship Recycling Association (ISRA), global cash buyer Wirana and Indian ship recycling group, Bansal Group.
Members can be representatives of ship recycling associations, individual ship recycling facilities, cash buyers, financial institutions and shipowners among others.
Also read: BIMCO: Demand shocks slash ship recycling
