HONGKONG CONVENTION

MAIN POINTS TO PONDER:
- MEPC developed guidelines and adopted this convention in year 2009.
- As of January 2024, the following twenty-four (24) countries have ratified:
Bangladesh, Belgium, Congo, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Japan, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malta, Marshall Islands, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Spain, and Turkey.
- to enter in force in June 2025.
- Resolutions A.962 (23), A.980 (24)
- Main idea is : Nothing goes waste after ship gets decommissioned
-main objective is to ensure that during recycling of ship, there should be no risk to the personnel's health and to the environment.
-steel gets reprocessed to get reinforced rods
-ship's generator, batteries, light fittings etc. are reused.
- Under this we have to maintain IHM (Inventory of Hazardous Management) file. This consist of 3 parts:
- Part 1: information related to materials contained in ship structures.
- Part 2: information about operationally generated wastes onboard.
- Part 3: inventory of hazardous stores received onboard vessel.
- Shipbuilders should develop the IHM for new ships in accordance with the format stipulated in the IMO Guidelines and based on the information obtained from the Material Declaration (MD) and Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) submitted by suppliers.
- List of certificates under this convention:
- International certificate of Inventory of Hazardous Materials : Class issues SOC (statement of compliance) for Part 1 of the IHM developed in preparation for the incoming Convention. SOC will be smoothly converted into an International Certificate on Inventory of Hazardous Materials after the entry into force of the Convention.
- DASR (Document of Authorization to conduct ship's recycling)
- IRRC (International Ready for Recycling certificate) {given by flag for validity of 3 months after final survey of IHM and SRFP (ship recycling facility plan)}
- SRFP: The scope of the verification includes prevention of adverse effects to human health and the environment, safe and environmentally sound management of hazardous materials, emergency preparedness and response, worker safety and training, reporting on incidents/accidents/occupational diseases/chronic effects, initial notification and reporting, and ship recycling plan.