The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC) was adopted in Hong Kong, China, in 2009 and will enter into force on June 26, 2025.
Ships may contain hazardous substances such as asbestos, heavy metals, hydrocarbons and ozone-depleting substances. The goal for the HKC is to making sure that vessels do not pose an unnecessary risk for the health and safety of humans or the environment when being scrapped. The HKC addresses these issues while simultaneously aiming to improving the working and environmental conditions at ship recycling facilities worldwide.
This will be enforced by two key elements:
- All ships above 500 GT should have a certified Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM), and;
- Ship Recycling Facilities (SRF) must be authorized and must prepare a Ship Recycling Facility Plan addressing worker safety and training and accept ships that comply with the HKC requirements.
Based on the HKC all ships will undergo an initial survey to verify their inventory of hazardous materials, periodic renewal surveys during their operational life, and a final survey before recycling. Ships in service must comply with this requirement by 26 June 2030 or before going to recycling if this is earlier.
Given the fact that EU/EAA flagged vessels already need to have a certified IHM in order to comply with the EU regulation on Ship Recycling (EU SRR) we expect the requirements under the HKC to have limited impact on our members, but we do encourage every member to double check that they are compliant.
More information about the HKC can be found here: HKC Info
For any questions or comments on this topic, please contact us at underwriting@nnpc.nl or by phone at +31(0)50 534 321.
