EU asks Malta to ratify convention on ship dumping

The convention aims to ensure that ships are recycled in appropriate sites, which respect social and environmental standards.

In December, EU environment commissioner Janez Potocnik wrote to the Maltese government to enquire whether the necessary steps have been taken by Malta to ratify the convention.

Malta – which has still not ratified this convention – is now facing the prospect of stricter EU legislation which transposes the convention in its laws.

Malta currently has the eighth largest fleet in the world and ranked fourth when it comes to the tonnage of ships dismantled in 2008.

In the past decades, ship-breaking has shifted to Asian countries from Europe in ports and beaches where environmental and health and safety measures are poor or non-existent. Wages for Asian workers in the ship-breaking industry are low, and according to Greenpeace they are constantly exposed to enormous health hazards.

In a report issued in 2004, Greenpeace had reported that asbestos is broken by hand by unprotected workers, a notorious practice which is automatically conducive to permanent respiratory problems such as asbestosis, due to the inhaling of dust fibres which scar the lungs.

The convention addresses all major issues related to ship recycling including the presence of asbestos, hydrocarbons and heavy metals in ships sold for scrapping.

It also addresses concerns raised about the poor working and environmental conditions at many of the world’s ship recycling locations.

The aim of the convention is to ensure that ships are designed, constructed and operated in a way that facilitates their recycling, and that they meet internationally recognised standards.

The convention has yet to come into force, as it has to be signed by at least 15 States. The combined merchant fleet of these States constitute not less than 40% of the GT of the world’s merchant fleet.

The convention has so far been signed by France, Italy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Turkey and the Netherlands.

The EU commission wants to encourage the early implementation of the HKC by transposing its key elements into community law.

But Malta is expressing concern that if the EU does so before the convention comes into force, it could lose its leading role in the sector.

A document prepared by MEPA and the Transport Authority on the implications of stricter EU rules on this sector – which has been issued for public consultation – warns of the possibility that “should legislative  developments at EU level outrun those at the international level, the most natural reaction by ship owners would be that of changing their flag.”

According to the public consultation document, this would weaken the powers of EU member states in minimising the risk of environmental damage and ensuring better protection for workers.

But the document also asks stakeholders whether Malta should “send a strong political signal” to the international community by signing the HKC.