Ongoing discussion on legal status of ships-for-scrap
According to Greenpeace, a ship can be a ship and a waste at the same time. When a ship owner has the intention to dispose of the ship for scrapping, a ship is from that moment on subject to both the rules of the IMO (on safety etc) and rules of the Basel Convention on waste.
The international debate on the legal status of ships-for-scrap is ongoing. In January 2002 the Legal Working Group of the Basel Convention has raised several legal issues regarding the disposal/recycling of ships and has requested input of other conventions like the IMO.
During the IMO meeting last week in London, a representative of the Basel Secretariat informed the IMO delegates about the concept of waste within the Basel Convention. We quote: "The Basel Convention about the control on transboundary movements of waste is a global convention. The Convention has an effect on almost every nation as almost 150 countries are party to the Basel Convention. Universal Basel principles include minimisation of waste, reduction of the toxicity of waste and the environmentally sound management of hazardous waste. An important question is when a product becomes a waste. A product becomes a waste when the owner has the intention to dispose of the product, no matter if the disposal method is landfill, recycling or incineration. The same principle applies to ships-for-scrap. Furthermore, if a waste exhibits hazardous characteristics it has to be considered as a hazardous waste. This also applies to ships. Waste on board a ship does not fall under the Basel Convention as it falls under MARPOL (International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution.
Remarkable ships Pacific Princess ('Love Boat') is on the Greenpeace list. More remarkable ships...
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