Adopted in May 2009, the Convention will ensure that ships are recycled in a safe, environmentally friendly and transparent manner, providing global oversight to an economically and environmentally essential industry.

India is a major ship recycling nation, and in 2018, India received more than 250 vessels of almost five million gross tonnes – amounting to between 25-35% of the world’s recycling tonnage. The decision therefore by the Government of India to begin steps towards ratifying the HKC is a significant one.

Speaking on the decision to embrace the HKC, Guy Platten, Secretary General said:

ICS welcomes the accession of India to the Hong Kong Convention. This is a major step towards guaranteeing the safe and environmentally sound management of ship recycling throughout the ships entire lifecycle.

He continued: “There has been a general trend towards compliance with the requirements of the Convention by both the shipping and recycling industries, and real strides have been made in improving working conditions by recyclers. India’s action is a further sign of this global determination to bring ship recycling practices under a single legal framework, and we are hopeful that it will spur other major recycling States, particularly China and Bangladesh to ratify and make the Convention a reality as soon as possible.”