In the past, Vietnam still had no old ship dismantling facility to carry out procedures to import old ships for dismantling due to insufficient legal basis.
According to the Vietnam Maritime Administration, currently, nationwide, there are only two establishments licensed by the Ministry of Transport to operate in the field of dismantling old ships: Pha Rung Shipyard and Nosco-Vinalines Ship Repair Factory.
However, to date, no facility has been granted a license to import used ships for dismantling. The facilities that mainly dismantle old ships are domestic ships.
In the past, no shipping facility in Vietnam has carried out procedures to import old ships for dismantling (Illustration photo).
Explaining this, according to a representative of the Vietnam Maritime Administration, in the past, there were no specific regulations related to the import of ships for dismantling, especially regulations related to environmental pollution control. Therefore, ship dismantling facilities do not have enough legal basis to import used ships for dismantling.
Currently, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is drafting a Circular to promulgate national technical regulations on the environment for used ships imported for dismantling.
Regarding the import of old ships for dismantling, in the draft Circular on promulgating National Technical Regulations on the environment for used ships imported for dismantling, which is being consulted by the Department of Environmental Pollution Control (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment), it is stated that in recent years, a number of international organizations and relevant parties have tried to provide more timely and effective responses to serious concerns about the dismantling and recycling of old ships.
To prevent pollution caused by ships, the Marpol Convention (adopted in 1973, Vietnam joined this Convention in 1991) has specific regulations on requirements during operation, inspection and disposal to strictly control and prevent pollution caused by ships.
The Marpol Convention has issued 6 Annexes, including: regulations on preventing pollution by oil, regulations on controlling pollution by noxious liquid substances carried in bulk, regulations on preventing pollution by toxic substances, regulations for ships carrying toxic substances in packaged form, regulations on safety in the transport of toxic substances, regulations on preventing pollution by ship's sewage, regulations on preventing pollution by ship's garbage, regulations on preventing air pollution caused by ships.
However, the Marpol Convention does not have specific regulations for controlling old ship breaking activities.
The Basel Convention (adopted in 1989, Vietnam joined the Convention in 1995) also does not have specific regulations on technical requirements to control imported ships for dismantling, especially for countries that have not joined the Convention.
In 2005, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted resolution A.981(24) for the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) to develop a new legally binding instrument for ship recycling.
On May 15, 2009, the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships was adopted in Hong Kong, China (to enter into force in June 2025).
The Convention sets out requirements for the control and recording of the use of certain hazardous materials, including asbestos, ozone-depleting substances, PCBs, anti-fouling compounds and hazardous materials found in ship structures and ship equipment during dismantling.
The Hong Kong Convention has provided two Appendices: List of hazardous materials prohibited and restricted from use on ships; List of hazardous materials that need to be strictly controlled in the structure of ships.
The Hong Kong Convention is one of the important international legal bases in controlling environmental pollution caused by imported ships for scrapping.
In Vietnam, the Ministry of Transport has issued a detailed plan for ship dismantling facilities until 2020, with a vision to 2030. According to the plan, the country currently has 12 old ship dismantling facilities in the plan with a total dismantling capacity of 280,860 DWT/year.
According to the report of the Vietnam Maritime Administration, facilities in Vietnam are applying old ship dismantling technologies according to the following processes: Bringing ships to locks, docks, platforms or workshops for dismantling; draining water at the docks or locks for construction and dismantling; cleaning the ship's hull to remove anti-fouling paint; cutting, breaking and dismantling each part of the ship.
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/vi-sao-viet-nam-chua-nhap-khau-tau-cu-de-pha-do-192250218152230934.htm
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