The entry into force of the IMO treaty regulating ship recycling has been triggered by the signatures of Bangladesh and Liberia, which means the Convention is now due to enter into force in June 2025.
The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (the Hong Kong Convention) will introduce global regulations to ensure ships at the end of their operational lives are recycled safely and without posing unnecessary risks to human health and the environment. With Bangladesh and Liberia becoming Contracting States to it, all necessary criteria have now been met.
IMO has produced a new video, outlining the need for universal ship recycling regulations and explaining how IMO is helping Member States improve the environmental and safety standards in their ship recycling industries in line with the requirements of the Hong Kong Convention.
Almost all ship recycling worldwide is carried out in five countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan and Türkiye, three of which – Bangladesh, India and Türkiye – are Parties to the Hong Kong Convention. Bangladesh is one of the world’s largest ship recycling countries by capacity. To help it to reach the point where it was ready to accede to the Hong Kong Convention IMO provided the country’s government with support through the Norwegian-funded project on Safe and Environmentally Sound Ship Recycling in Bangladesh (SENSREC). The SENSREC project provides legal policy support and on-the-ground assistance in recycling yards which has helped Bangladesh improve its ship recycling standards and ensure the safety of its workforce in one of the country’s most important industries.
The IMO video, entitled Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, can be found here.
