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MALTA-Latest State to accede to HKC

May 17, 2019 1:16:00 PM

Malta becomes the latest State Party of The International Maritime Organization’s treaty for safe and environmentally-sound ship recycling-the Hong Kong Convention. H.E. Mr. Victor Camilleri, Permanent Representative of Malta to IMO, met IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim at IMO Headquarters, London on May 14 to deposit the instrument of accession.

The Hong Kong Convention covers the design, construction, operation and maintenance of ships, and preparation for ship recycling in order to facilitate safe and environmentally sound recycling, without compromising the safety and operational efficiency of ships.

Under the treaty, new ships and existing ships are required to carry on board an Inventory of Hazardous Materials, which should also be properly maintained and updated throughout the operational life of the ship. Ship Recycling Facility(ies) with valid Document of Authorization to conduct Ship Recycling (DASR) are required to provide a detailed "Ship Recycling Plan"( SRP), depending on its particulars and its inventory.

The Hong Kong Convention has welcomed 12 members up to now as the accession of Malta. Japan and Estonia acceded to the Convention in the early time of this year. According to IMO, the 12 contracting states party to the convention now represents more than 28.8 percent of world merchant shipping tonnage. The Convention requires 15 States or more, at least 40 percent of world merchant shipping by gross tonnage, whose recycling facilities combined maximum annual ship recycling volume during the preceding 10 years, is at least 3% of the gross tonnage of the contracting States.

Who will be the next or one of the last three contracting states party to the Convention will be in the spotlight. As mentioned in the article published by Dr. Nikos Mikelis through The Maritime Executive, Germany has secured its accession to HKC through its Parliament and should be delivering the instruments of accession to the IMO very soon, and India is making progress and is expected to deliver their instruments of accession within 2019 as well. Flag States such as Liberia and Marshall Islands may be ready to accede to Hong Kong Convention as well. Besides, will China be attracted and accede? Let’s wait and see.

To sum up, the Hong Kong Convention stands a good chance that the conditions are satisfied even within 2019 and therefore it would take-into-force two years later.

Article Source: http://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/WhatsNew/Pages/default.aspx

https://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/276810/malta-becomes-newest-hong-kong-convention-member/