The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and European Shipowners (ECSA) have welcomed the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (Hong Kong Convention) which entered into force globally on 26 June 2025.
The IMO originally adopted the Hong Kong Convention in May 2009. The aim of the Convention is to reduce risks to health, safety and the environment, ensuring that ships when being recycled after reaching the end of their operational lives, do not pose any unnecessary risk to human health and safety or the environment. ICS and ECSA have been advocating for the Hong Kong Convention to come into force since adoption at IMO to ensure international safe and sustainable ship recycling processes.
ICS Secretary General Thomas A Kazakos said: “Today marks a welcome and historical development after two decades of work on the issue. At ICS we have long been championing for safe and sustainable ship recycling practices. Now that the Hong Kong Convention has entered into force we can look forward to even more progress in improving ship recycling around the world. As the industry pushes forward on its decarbonisation journey the lifespan of the merchant fleet is likely to reduce, through global instruments such as the Hong Kong Convention we can progress, safely, efficiently and sustainably. A global industry needs global regulations.”
Sotiris Raptis, Secretary General, ECSA added: “The entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention is a milestone for our industry. It sends a strong signal that multilateral cooperation in IMO can and should continue to deliver. The global requirements entering into force today already represent significant progress for the sustainability of our industry. We now need to build on this foundation and further strengthen the Hong Kong Convention to raise the bar and continue to make meaningful progress towards safe and sustainable ship recycling practices. One global standard is essential to deliver environmentally sound and safe ship recycling and to ensure the competitiveness of European shipping”.
Image: Ship recycling (source: IMO)
