Spain has become the latest country to accede to International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) treaty for safe and environmentally sound ship recycling – the Hong Kong Convention.
Víctor Jiménez Fernández, Transport Counsellor and Alternate Permanent Representative of Spain to the International Maritime Organization, met with IMO Secretary General Kitack Lim on June 3rd to deposit the instrument of accession.
The country is the 17th to sign the convention, which covers the design, construction, operation and maintenance of ships, and preparation for ship recycling.
Under the treaty, ships to be sent for recycling are required to carry an inventory of hazardous materials, specific to each ship. Recycling yards are required to provide a Ship Recycling Plan, specifying the manner in which each ship will be recycled, depending on its particulars and its inventory.
The 16 countries that had previously joined the treaty were Belgium, Congo, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Serbia, and Turkey.