Ship recycling has recently taken a front seat both from a
commercial perspective and a legal perspective. With an increasing
number of ship owners choosing to recycle their vessels, recycling
regulations continued to receive more attention.
The regulation of ship recycling in Europe has come a long way
since the EU brought into force rules and regulations modelled on
the Hong Kong Convention,1. The Hong Kong Convention2 and
likewise EU legislation is aimed at ensuring that ships, when being
recycled after reaching the end of their operational lives, do not
pose any unnecessary risks to human health, safety and to the
environment3. The EU's rules and
regulations specifically tackling ship recycling are contained in
the EU Ship Recycling Regulation4 which came into force only
recently in December 2019. With the regulation of ship recycling
becoming more complex, ship owners seeking to recycle their vessels
should ensure strict compliance with all applicable
