Environmentally unsound and unsafe practices for dismantling ships remain a matter of serious concern. At the end of their operating life, most large commercial seagoing vessels are being dismantled in facilities using methods with significant environmental and health
impacts. These negative aspects prevent ship recycling from becoming a properly sustainable industry.

The situation is likely to worsen since large numbers of ships are expected to be sent for dismantling in the coming years as a result of the current overcapacity of the world fleet which is estimated to remain for at least 5 to 10 years. In addition, the coming peak in ship
recycling that will occur around the phasing-out date for single-hull tankers (2015) is expected to essentially benefit the most sub-standard facilities.

The Waste Shipment Regulation1 implements in the European Union the requirements of the Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal. It also implements the provision of an Amendment to the Convention (the so-called
‘Ban Amendment’) which prohibits the export of hazardous waste outside the OECD. This Amendment has not yet entered into force at international level due to insufficient ratification.