Ship Recycling: Updated list of European facilities includes three new yards

In the 9^th edition of the European List of ship recycling facilities published today, the European Commission has added three new yards. One yard is located in the Netherlands and the other two are located in the United Kingdom. Ship owners of EU-flagged vessels now have a wider range of options to get these dismantled in the future. The Commission has today also extended the date of expiry of inclusion of two listed yards located in France and has removed one yard located in Portugal whose authorisation to conduct ship recycling has recently expired. The European List now contains 46 ship-recycling facilities, including 37 yards in Europe (EU, Norway and UK), 8 yards in Turkey and 1 yard in the USA. Several yards on the European List are also capable of recycling large vessels.

European ship owners possess around 40% of the world fleet. Many of these ships are being dismantled outside the EU, mainly in South Asia, under conditions that are often harmful to workers’ health and the environment. Since 31 December 2018, the EU Ship Recycling Regulation has required all large sea-going vessels sailing under an EU Member State flag to use an approved ship recycling facility included in the European List of ship recycling facilities.

Background

The European List is regularly updated to add further compliant facilities or to remove facilities that have ceased to comply. To be included in the European List, any ship recycling facility, irrespective of its location, has to comply with a number of safety and environmental requirements. For facilities located in the EU, competent national authorities must check that all the relevant conditions are met, and then inform the Commission that the facility should be listed. Ship recycling facilities located in third countries and intending to recycle ships flying a flag of a Member State have to apply to the Commission for inclusion in the European List.

Evaluation of the EU Ship Recycling Regulation

The Commission will soon launch an evaluation of the Ship Recycling Regulation. A Call for Evidence to support the evaluation will be published in the coming weeks.

For More Information

• 9^th edition of the European List of ship recycling facilities
• Webpage on Ship Recycling including Map of the EU-listed yards