Home / Shipping News / International Shipping News / Entry into force of the Ban Amendment of the Basel Convention

Entry into force of the Ban Amendment of the Basel Convention

On the 5th of December 2019 the Ban Amendment to the Basel Convention will enter into force. Although over the years the Basel Convention has been proven to be problematic when being enforced as an international regulatory regime for the recycling of ships, some countries may still decide to implement the Basel Convention and, where relevant, the Ban Amendment to any ships departing their ports for a recycling destination. Certainly this is the case in European Union countries which are enforcing both the Basel Convention and the Ban Amendment (known in Europe as the EU Waste Shipments Regulation) to any non-EU flagged end-of-life ships departing their ports.

The uncertainty of whether a port State will or will not decide to enforce the Basel Convention and its Amendment is problematic to ship operators. It is hoped in the longer term that the entry into force of Hong Kong Convention will resolve this problem. In the meantime, the shipping industry, and in particular shipowners of ships that are approaching the end of their useful life, need to better understand the currently applicable regulations and their complexities. For the last ten years GMS has supported with its resources the changes and improvements that are taking place in the international ship recycling industry and has also disseminated timely information to the shipping industry.

One of these activities was the printing and distribution in April 2018 of a book on The Recycling of Ships authored by its non-executive director, Dr Nikos Mikelis. In the limited time since the publication of the book many important developments have taken place, including criminal prosecutions against shipowners in Europe under the Waste Shipments Regulation, the Chinese ban on the import of ships for recycling from 31st December 2018, the coming into effect of the European Union Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SRR) from the same date, and also, now, the entry into force of the Ban Amendment.

In order to disseminate information about these developments and their ramifications to the ship recycling and the shipping industries GMS has arranged to publish the second edition of The Recycling of Ships. The book will be available by the middle of December. In the meantime, in view of the imminent entry into force of the Ban Amendment two sections of the book are reprinted below, the first one discussing the Amendment and the second one providing a summary of the currently applicable requirements to end-of-life ships. The book will be available in pdf format in GMS’s website from the middle of December. Clients of GMS wishing to have hard copies please contact us at [email protected]
Source: GMS

Recent Videos

Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and International Shipping