Welcome to the section on ship dismantling of the Basel Convention web site. The benefits and risks currently presented by the ship dismantling industry are heatedly debated. The issue has become a priority on the international agenda. Much work is being carried out in many international and regional fora to come to a sustainable ship dismantling industry that safeguards those employed in it and protects the environment, while recognizing the vital role the industry plays in the economies of certain States.

This section aims to become a comprehensive and up-to-date reference tool on ship dismantling for stakeholders, grouping relevant activities of the Basel Convention, initiatives for co-operation between international organizations, relevant case law and a compilation of practical information from a wide range of sources.

A Ship Recycling Technology & Knowledge Transfer Workshop took place in Izmir, Turkey, from 14 to 16 July 2010. The Workshop, funded and organised by the Secretariat, in collaboration with the Government of Turkey and the Ship Recyclers’’ Association of Turkey, was developed to assist the Government of Pakistan and industry to strengthen its regulatory, institutional, procedural and infrastructural capacity to fulfil the relevant aspects of the Basel Convention in relation to ship recycling, particularly those dealing with the downstream management of hazardous and other wastes, and the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009. Please click here for the Workshop agenda, list of participants, report and copies of delegates’ presentations.

Comments received from Parties and others pursuant to the decision taken by the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties on the Dismantling of Ships.

The Secretariat, in conjunction with the Secretariats of the IMO and ILO, is developing the ‘Global Programme for Sustainable Ship Recycling: Improving working practices for the betterment of OSH and environmental standards in ship recycling yards in Asia’. Please see the latest information on the Programme’s development.

Please click here for more information on the third session of the Joint Working Group of the International Labour Organization, International Maritime Organization and Basel Convention on Ship Scrapping, held in October 2008 at the ILO Headquarters in Geneva.