2nd Bangladeshi shipbreaker achieves HKC compliance

S.N. Corporation’s Unit-02 ship recycling yard at Shitalpur, Sitakunda in Bangladesh has been certified as compliant with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) guidelines for the Hong Kong Convention (HKC) on sustainable ship recycling.

The certification process was undertaken by the Japanese classification society Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK), establishing that S.N. Corporation was capable of the intensive procedural and performance standards required under the HKC. 

This is the second shipyard in the country to become compliant with the IMO Guidelines for Safe and Environmentally Sound Ship Recycling.

GMS, the world’s largest buyer of ships and offshore vessels, said that it had assisted in the project under its Sustainable Ship & Offshore Recycling Program (SSORP). Under the program, employees from S.N. Corporation were offered technical support and guidance throughout the certification process in order to ensure a supported end-to-end solution for sustainable ship recycling, GMS added. 

“We are extremely proud to have played a part in the success of S.N. Corporation’s HKC certification. As the global maritime industry looks to implement cleaner, decarbonised shipping operations throughout the supply chain, the ship recycling industry in South Asia is taking significant proactive steps to support this transition to more sustainable practices and enable the responsible recovery of reusable materials,” Dr. Anand Hiremath, Chief Sustainability Officer at GMS, said.

“We congratulate S.N. Corporation on this achievement, and welcome further opportunities to collaborate with global ship recycling yards seeking to facilitate sustainability in the coming years.”

The IMO Guidelines offer a technical standard to assist in the early implementation of the HKC, with advice on how yards can achieve compliance such that ship recycling does not pose any unnecessary risks to human health/safety and the environment.

Although the convention is yet to be ratified, responsible ship recycling yard operators have begun undertaking voluntary certification so as to ensure rigorous safety standards and support ongoing calls for Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting across maritime. 

Bangladesh is among the top three developing nations in South Asia, next to India and Pakistan, where the majority of the world’s ships end up being dismantled. The South Asian shipbreaking yards remained the preferred destination for end-of-life vessels in 2022, dismantling 80% of the global end-of-life gross tonnage, despite their practices of dirty and dangerous breaking on tidal beaches.

Shipbreaking facilities in Bangladesh have been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism for their poor work safety practices which resulted in numerous injuries and even fatalities, as reported by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform.