All the major recycling nations have now committed to the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of ships following ratification by Pakistan.
Pakistan has announced its accession to the convention at the International Maritime Organization Assembly meeting this week and will shortly deposit the instrument of ratification with the regulator.
The Pakistan government had agreed to sign up to the convention after a 15 November cabinet meeting.
The IMO also recently ran a ship recycling seminar in Pakistan in support of its ratification.
The Hong Kong Convention’s entry into force requirement was met following Bangladesh and Liberia’s ratification earlier this year.
The convention is set to enter into force in June 2025.
Pakistan follows other major recycling nations Bangladesh, India and Turkey in ratifying the global recycling convention.
Together the regions account for the majority of global commercial ship recycling.
Before it enters into force Pakistan’s shipbreaking yards will have to upgrade facilities and operating practices at the main shipbreaking site in Gadani to meet the standards of the Hong Kong Convention.
Commenting on recent developments in Pakistan, the lobby group NGO Shipbreaking Platform said: “In Gadani, experts recognise the need to develop a landfill site for managing waste in an environmentally and responsible manner; establish basic healthcare facilities; provide adequate training and social welfare infrastructure including a residential colony for workers; and improve road infrastructure for better connectivity along with access to basic utilities such as water and electricity.”
With all the major ship recycling nations signed up to the Hong Kong Convention, it opens the question of how it will sit with the other international regulations on ship recycling.
Under the European Union’s Ship Recycling Regulation, all ships flagged in the region must be recycled at ship breakers approved by Brussels, none of which are currently located in India, Bangladesh or Pakistan.
The Basel agreement on the export of hazardous waste does not allow the export of waste from OECD countries to non-OECD countries.
