Norway To Invest $1.364 Million To Make Bangladesh’s Ship Recycling Yards Eco-Friendly

Norway’s whopping $1.3 trillion wealth fund declared on Tuesday that it has helped lift the exclusion of Thoresen Thai Agencies and concluded the observation of Hyundai Glovis after both firms ceased their usual practice of sending old vessels to be dismantled on the beaches of South Asia.

Thoresen Thai Agencies were excluded from the fund in 2018 owing to the practice of sending out decommissioned vessels to get scrapped in Bangladesh, where the working conditions are “extremely poor.”

Further, the fund noted that the firm has not sent any vessel for scrapping from 2018 onward, rendering the basis for exclusion irrelevant.

The recommendation for revoking the exclusion was made by the Council on Ethics in May 2023.

Thoresen Thai Agencies was among the four firms to be excluded from the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund back in 2018 for the practice of sending out end-of-life ships for scrapping in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India, wherein the highly controversial beaching process is commonly used to dismantle ships.

Hyundai Glovis, the firm that was under observation from 2022 for its practice of sending vessels for scrapping in Bangladesh and Pakistan, has reportedly implemented a policy for the responsible disposal of decommissioned ships to address this issue, resulting in the Council on Ethics and further suggesting that the observation status be lifted.

In a step toward ensuring the safe, secure, and environmentally friendly scrapping of vessels, the Hong Kong Convention has reached the much-needed threshold in June 2023 for its entry into the force in 2025.

This milestone came through over 14 years after the convention was adopted by the International Maritime Organization (abbreviated the IMO).

The EU has been cracking down on risky vessel-breaking practice with the European Ship Recycling Regulation, which needs huge sea-going vessels that sail with the EU flags to use an approved vessel recycling facility from the European List that have been determined to satisfy stringent safety and environmental requirements.

The regulation also aligns with the Hong Kong Convention. The list of approved yards has been updated to contain 48 yards situated in Turkey and Europe.

Reference- tbsnews

Norway To Invest $1.364 Million To Make Bangladesh’s Ship Recycling Yards Eco-Friendly appeared first on Marine Insight – The Maritime Industry Guide

Source: Maritime Shipping News