Last month Lucion Environmental were appointed as consultants representing the European Commission. The role was to educate Ship Recycling facilities, their owners and associates on the subject of the regulation: (EU) No 1257/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 on ship recycling and amending Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 and Directive 2009/16/EC.

The two-day workshops: ‘Applying to the European List of ship recycling facilities’ was held in China and Turkey to outline the importance of the regulation, requirements for complying with the regulations and the process for applying to be an approved facility; to be able to recycle vessels flying the flag of a European Union member state.

Lucion’s Principal Consultant Kevan O’Neill, advised on the general requirements for compliance and items for inclusion in the application; including the requirements for the preparation of a ‘Ship Recycling Facility Plan (SRFP)’; the requirements for the compilation of an ‘Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPRP)’; management and monitoring systems; and how to complete parts of the application relevant to the above.
Phil Rozier, Lucion’s Health and Safety Director and Lucion Asbestos Consultant Alec Hales, took to the stage to discuss safety and training requirements; including how to prove safe-for-hot-work conditions; how to prove safe-for-entry conditions; and the prevention of adverse effects on human health.

The EU Ship Recycling Regulation(1257/2013) entered into force on 30 December 2013 to reduce the negative impacts linked to the recycling of EU-flagged ships, especially in South Asia. The Regulation is built upon the Hong Kong Convention and aims to implement the Convention quickly, without waiting for its ratification and entry into force. To speed up the formal entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention, the Commission proposal for a Ship Recycling Regulation was accompanied by a draft decision requiring the Member States to ratify the Hong Kong Convention.

The Ship Recycling Regulation applies to large commercial seagoing vessels flying the flag of the EU Member State, and to ships flying the flag of a third country calling at EU ports or anchorages. In order to ensure legal clarity and avoid administrative burdens, ships covered by the new legislation would be excluded from the scope of the Waste Shipment Regulation (EC) 1013/2006.

According to the new rules, the installation or use of certain hazardous materials on ships such as asbestos, ozone-depleting substances, PCBs, PFOS, and anti-fouling compounds, will be prohibited or restricted.

Each new ship flying the flag of an EU Member State (or a ship flying a flag of the third country calling at EU port or anchorage) will be required to have on board an inventory of hazardous materials.