Conclusions and recommendations
How are defunct ships currently dealt with?
1. The
lack of suitable dismantling facilities in developed countries
is a significant barrier to responsible ship dismantling. At present,
even if a ship owner based in the United Kingdom wished, or was
required, to dismantle a ship here, appropriate facilities for
larger vessels do not exist. Given the economic advantages of
dismantling facilities in Asia, and the difficulties faced by
companies such as Able UK, there is little incentive for companies
here to develop ship dismantling facilities. (Paragraph 18)
Existing legislation and guidelines regulating
ship dismantling
2. Since
the European Community Waste Shipments Regulation includes a ban
on export of hazardous wastes to developing countries, the regulation
forbids the export of ships that are classified as hazardous waste
to developing countries. We welcome this development. (Paragraph
26)
3. 30. The Government,
as a member of the International Maritime Organisation and in
its role as upcoming president of the G8 and the European Union,
should work to ensure that the International Maritime Organisation
gives priority to producing an internationally binding agreement
which sets out how ships should be dismantled. Such an approach
must avoid the difficulties associated with the current tortuous
arguments which try to determine when a ship becomes waste. We
urge the Government to encourage the International Maritime Organisation
to concentrate its work on a best practice agreement which applies
at the point of dismantling. The Government should seek to
ensure that the International Maritime Organisation does not allow
itself to be side-tracked into the difficulties of agreements
which try to adjudicate on how international waste transfer arrangements
affect the way in which ship dismantling is conducted. (Paragraph
30)
4. 38. Given the international
nature of the shipping industry, any action or regulation to address
ship dismantling will be effective only if it is agreed at an
international level. Furthermore, if an initiative is really to
work, it would have to be taken under the aegis of the International
Maritime Organisation in order to circumvent the problems associated
with ships changing flag and owners declaring their intention
to dismantle a vessel only once it is on the high seas.
(Paragraph 0)
5. 39. We therefore
warmly welcome the decision to form a joint working group of the
Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention, the International
Maritime Organisation and the International Labour Organisation.
We urge the Government to ensure that it has meaningful input
into the deliberations of the working group. We hope that the
working group will clarify when a ship is to be regarded as waste
and how best to apply the principles of international waste
legislation to those parts of a defunct vessel that cannot be
re-used or recycled. (Paragraph 0)
6. 40. We note the
Minister's hope that the United Kingdom will be included in the
working group and urge the Government to seek to play as active
a role as possible in it. (Paragraph 0)
Principles of responsible ship recycling
7. 45.
We take the view that is would be extremely difficult to assign
responsibility for the way in which a ship is dismantled to any
but the current owner. However, the current owner, regardless
of how long they have owned the ship and regardless of whether
they bought the ship as a going concern or with the intention
of selling it for scrap, should be responsible for ensuring that
the ship is dismantled to internationally acceptable standards
of health, safety and environmental protection. (Paragraph
0)
8. 46. We accept that
it may be difficult for smaller ship owning companies to assess
the quality of dismantling facilities and we therefore recommend
that the Government consider how an international standard could
be developed, which could be used to certify qualifying dismantling
yards. (Paragraph 0)
9. 53. For us, the
most important consideration in deciding where a ship should be
dismantled is that the level of health and safety protection for
the workers and the environmental protection at ship dismantling
facilities meet the highest standards; as stated above, we believe
that such standards should be stated in an internationally binding
agreement which sets out a clear statement of minimum standards
of ship dismantling, regardless of where the dismantling takes
place. The Government should work to ensure that the International
Maritime Organisation gives priority to producing such an agreement.
It is clear that the majority of large vessels are dismantled
under wholly inadequate conditions on beaches in Pakistan, India
and Bangladesh; it is unacceptable that OECD-based companies,
who are also members of the International Maritime Organisation,
should continue to permit their vessels to be dismantled in this
way.
10. 54. As regards ship dismantling in the
United Kingdom, the decision to grant or deny permission for ship
dismantling facilities is clearly for the planning authority concerned
and the environmental and health and safety regulators. However,
it seems to us that the UK has the potential to establish an industry
in ship dismantling which can be done safely and offer economic
benefits to the communities in which is it carried out.
(Paragraph 0)
11. As regards ship
dismantling in the United Kingdom, the decision to grant or deny
permission for ship dismantling facilities is clearly for the
planning authority concerned and the environmental and health
and safety regulators. However, it seems to us that the UK has
the potential to establish an industry in ship dismantling
which can be done safely and offer economic benefits to the communities
in which is it carried out.. (Paragraph 54)
Action at the United Kingdom level
12. 56.
We welcome the Government's decision to produce a ship recycling
strategy. The strategy's scope, as outlined by Defra, is commendable.
We recommend that it also set out how UK Government policy will
interact with and push forward the international agenda.
(Paragraph 0)
13. 57. The need to
eradicate irresponsible ship dismantling is urgent, all the more
so because all remaining single-hulled tankers must be dismantled
before 2015, many before 2010 and the oldest by the end of 2005.
In this context, the Government should tell us how it will use
its forthcoming presidency of the European Union and chairmanship
of the G8 to encourage rapid international action to ensure these
tankers are dismantled in a responsible way. (Paragraph
57)
14. 58. Government
has most direct control over the ships it owns, namely naval vessels.
These should be dismantled in a way that does not harm the environment
or people. We would welcome the development of a thriving ship
dismantling industry in the United Kingdom, which dismantled all
defunct state-owned vessels to the highest standards of health,
safety and environmental protection. (Paragraph 0)
15. 59. We expect
that the presence of such facilities would act as a catalyst to
enable UK-based ship owners to have their commercial vessels dismantled
here. However, we recognise that responsible recycling will impose
a cost on ship owners and recommend that the Government explore
ways of mitigating that cost. (Paragraph 0)
16. 60. We recommend
that, pending greater international regulation of ship recycling,
the Government consider how best to persuade UK-based ship owners
to adhere to the IMO guidelines and ensure that their vessels
are dismantled, and seen to be dismantled, with the minimum impact
on human health and the environment. (Paragraph 0)
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