Government notifies DG Shipping as National Authority for Recycling of Ships

The Union government has notified Director General of Shipping as National Authority for Recycling of Ships. DG Shipping is designated as apex authority under the Recycling of Ships Act, 2019 for the ship recycling industry of the country and the office of the national authority will be set up in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Ministry of Shipping in a statement said, as an apex body, DG Shipping is authorised to administer, supervise and monitor all activities relating to ship recycling.

Union Minister of State for Shipping (independent charge) Mansukh L Mandaviya in a tweet said, "DG Shipping is designated as India's first-ever 'National Authority on Ship Recycling'. It will ensure compliance to global standards for safety, the health of workers & environment-friendly Ship Recycling norms. It will strive for the development of the Ship Recycling Industry."

DG Shipping will look after the sustainable development of the ship recycling industry, monitoring the compliance to environment-friendly norms and safety and health measures for the stakeholders working in the ship recycling industry. The DG Shipping will be the final authority for the various approvals required by the ship-recycling yard owners and the State governments.

"National Authority of Ship Recycling will be set up in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The location of the office will benefit the Ship Recycling yard owners situated in Alang, Gujarat which is the home of Asia's largest ship breaking and ship recycling industry in the world.

Under the ship recycling Act, India has acceded to the Hong Kong Convention for ship recycling under the International Maritime Organization (IMO). DG Shipping is India's representative in IMO and all the conventions of IMO are being enforced by DG Shipping.

India's outlook on Ship Recycling

India is seeking to double ship recycling contribution to the country's GDP to over USD 2 billion post-enactment of the Ship Recycling Act in December 2019. It aims to create around 90,000 direct jobs in the recycling sector.

At present, India recycles around 70 lakh gross tonnage of ships annually, while Bangladesh's contribution is 68 lakh gross tonnage. Pakistan scraps ships worth 37 lakh gross tonnage, while China accounts for 34 lakh gross tonnage of recycling.

Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya last month has said, "These four countries account for 90 per cent of the ships recycled globally. Post enactment of Recycle Act, India eyes 50 per cent of the global share as many countries will be sending ships here after India ratified the global convention."

The existing Shipbreaking Code (revised), 2013 and the provisions of the Hong Kong Convention, 2009 are dovetailed in recycling legislation to ensure environment-friendly recycling process of ships and adequate safety of the yard workers.

With the enactment of the legislation, India has set global standards for safe and sound environment-friendly recycling of ships, as well as ensure adequate safety of the yard workers. Hoping for an increase in the business, a large number of recycling plots at Alang are obtaining Statement of Compliance (SOC) with the Hong Kong Convention.