The Hellenic Shipowners Association welcomes the ratification of the Hong Kong International Convention on Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC), of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), by the governments of Bangladesh, a major ship recycling country, and Liberia, one of the largest registers.
“We firmly support the existence of global regulation for our industry and express our satisfaction that the long-awaited implementation of the HKC is now a reality,” said the president of the Union of Greek Shipowners, Melina Travlou. “This is a very important development, which the international shipping community has persistently and consistently promoted,” she added.
With the implementation of the HKC, safe and environmentally responsible ship recycling practices will be ensured globally. The next step should be the revision of relevant regional regulations, such as the EU Ship Recycling Regulation. This will help remove unnecessary barriers to creating a global, unified set of safety standards when ships are recycled at HKC compliant facilities around the world.
“Shipping is indeed part of the solution to environmental challenges. As an irreplaceable sector in the global supply chain, it complies with international ship recycling standards and practices to achieve a real environmental result without distorting competition,” Travlou underlined.
