Ship Recycling

Ship recycling can be an economically and environmentally sound activity that contributes to sustainable development by providing jobs for workers, raw materials for construction, and economic incentives to recycle. Virtually every part of a ship – the hull, machinery, equipment, fittings, and even furniture – can normally be re-used. Currently, the commercial shipping industry has more than 89,000 vessels in service worldwide. By 2010, more than 4,000 ships could be recycled each year.

However, recycling massive ships that weigh tens of thousands of tons can create dangerous working conditions and threats to the environment. Recycling must be done properly to avoid exposing workers and the local marine environment to the hazardous materials, such as asbestos, lead, residual fuels, and PCBs, that are commonly encountered in ship recycling.

To ensure the health and safety of workers and protect the marine environment, the U.S. actively negotiates with shipping, ship-building, and ship-recycling countries as well as pr i vate industry, environmental and labor organizations, and other international bodies at the International Maritime Organization forum in London , United Kingdom . The goal is to develop an effective and equitable International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships.

Feb. 2 nd 2007 (photos by J.Grubich) The U.S. Ship Recycling Interagency Team visits Bay Bridge Enterprises, a domestic recycling facility in Norfolk, Virginia, to gain first-hand knowledge of the complexities, best practices, and difficulties of ship recycling. During the visit, the interagency team learned how the hazardous materials on each ship are assessed and removed and how the ship is then dismantled into sections for sale as scrap metal. This information will prove useful as the U.S. continues to participate in the ship recycling negotiations.