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The International Maritime Organization (IMO) will hold a diplomatic conference on ship recycling from May 11 to 15 in Hong Kong, the first time it has been held in Asia.
At a media briefing today (April 30), the Assistant Director of Marine (Multi-lateral Policy), Mr Patrick Chun, said the IMO, a United Nations agency specialising in regulating safety standards, marine environment protection measures and maritime security for international shipping, formally approved and accepted the offer of the Central People's Government last June to host the conference in Hong Kong. The Marine Department is the government agency given the task to organise the event in conjunction with the IMO.
Mr Chun said, "The main purpose of the conference is to adopt the International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships."
The conference will be held in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, and about 500 delegates from IMO Member States, a number of intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations will participate in this five-day diplomatic conference.
"Hong Kong," Mr Chun said, "being a metropolitan city well connected all over the world both in transport and telecommunications, coupled with excellent convention facilities and other infrastructure, is an ideal place for holding international meetings, exhibitions and conventions.
"As a global maritime hub, Hong Kong is honoured to organise this diplomatic conference aiming to adopt the convention to ensure that ships reaching the end of their operational life will not pose any unnecessary risks to human health and the environment."
Also, Hong Kong, an Associate Member of the IMO for more than 40 years, was well recognised for its contributions and commitment to the IMO's aim of working towards safer ships and cleaner seas, he said.
Mr Chun also pointed out that organising the diplomatic conference in Hong Kong would help further enhance it as an international maritime centre.
The new convention, if adopted, will impose certain mandatory requirements on the design, construction and operation of ships, as well as their preparation to scrapyards at the end of their service life to facilitate safe and environmentally sound recycling. It will also regulate the operation of ship recycling facilities to protect the health and safety of the workers and minimise any adverse impact on the environment.
An enforcement mechanism which consists of keeping an inventory on the use of hazardous materials in ship construction, certification and reporting requirements on ship recycling operations will also be put in place after the convention comes into effect internationally.
The convention will carry an appendix providing a list of hazardous materials that are prohibited for use in ship construction or repair. Ships will have to have initial surveys to verify the inventories of hazardous materials on board, undergo periodically surveys during the life of the ships, and final surveys prior to recycling.
Ship recycling yards will be required to provide a "Ship Recycling Plan", to specify the manner in which each ship will be dealt with depending on its particulars and the inventory of hazardous materials. The relevant authorities will be required to take effective measures to ensure that ship recycling facilities under their jurisdiction can comply with the convention.
A series of guidelines will be developed to assist in the implementation of the new convention while the entry into force criteria for the convention (number of States required and percentage of gross merchant shipping tonnage) will be decided by this diplomatic conference.
Ends/Thursday, April 30, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:10
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