Page 30 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΜΑΙΟΣ 2023

SHIPOWNERS' ASSOCIATIONS

Meanwhile, it is important not to forget challenges
on the shore side where more IT specialists will
be needed to manage the increasing number of
digital systems, equipment, and big-data analysis
within all areas, including technical, operations,
commercial, HR, and marketing.
ç The need for ship recycling will rise
in the coming years. What is BIMCO’s
view on ship recycling and why?
Ship recycling is one of the topics that is very high
on the agenda at BIMCO. In October last year,
a report commissioned by BIMCO showed that
whilst the EU list of approved ship recycling facil-
ities continues to grow, new additions have not
added significant capacity to meet the demands
of the global shipping industry.
We, therefore, believe that the focus must shift
towards adding facilities outside of the EU. EU
member state facilities, in general, provide either
We must continue bespoke local solutions to a niche recycling
to remind and inform market or are focused on offshore decommis-
policymakers, the public, sioning; they are not dedicated to recycling large
consumers, and financiers ocean-going ships.
of the crucial role Today, there are still no facilities from the lead-
that shipping plays ing recycling countries such as India, Bangladesh
in all our lives. or Pakistan on the EU list to meet the demand
for recycling larger ships. That is despite many
of these yards having made significant efforts
toward upgrading their facilities. We believe the
focus on adding some of these facilities to the list
should be increased if they meet the standards of
the Hong Kong Convention. We believe the Hong
Kong Convention should be ratified as soon as
possible.
There is significant potential for the ship recy-
cling industry to contribute to the circular econ-
omy because it supplies large quantities of scrap
metal to the steel and iron industries, which
reduces the need to produce primary metals. To
take one example, a study commissioned by the
World Bank in 2009 found that Bangladesh sat-
isfied 50% of its steel needs from national ship
recycling.
It is estimated that more than 15,000 ships will
be recycled in the next decade, so the poten-
tial of ship recycling to contribute to the circu-
lar in a manner that is sustainable and safe for
workers and the environment is tremendous. The
such technologies cannot directly replace time Hong Kong Convention will allow for the safe and
at sea and hands-on experience on board ships. environmentally sound recycling of ships interna-
Lastly, we must ensure that all cadets who begin tionally; therefore, shipowners should choose to
training complete the program. Companies could recycle at yards that follow the standards and live
increasingly consider having dedicated training up to the Convention. To raise awareness of this
ships or allocating space on their fleets’ ships, critical issue, we are working on a short industry
when available, to cadets supervised by a dedi- film about ship recycling which will be published
cated cadet training officer. later this year.

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