Technical guidelines for the environmentally sound ...

1 Technical guidelines for the environmentally sound management of the full and partial dismantling of ships Published in 2003. Sales no. ISBN : 92-1-158620-8. ISSN : 1020-8364. Printed in chlorine-free cyclus paper This Publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission from the copyright-holder, provided that acknowledgement of the source is made. UNEP and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention would appreciate receiving a copy of any material that uses this publication as a source.

2 No use of this publication may be made for resale or for any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing from UNEP. This Publication is available from: Secretariat of the Basel Convention International Environment House 15 chemin des An mones, CH-1219 Ch telaine, Switzerland Tel. : (4122) 9178218 Fax : (4122) 797 34 54. E-mail : Web : BASEL CONVENTION. BASEL CONVENTION. ON THE CONTROL OF TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENTS OF. HAZARDOUS WASTES AND THEIR DISPOSAL. SECRETARIAT. Technical guidelines for the environmentally sound Management of the Full and Partial Dismantling of Ships Basel Convention series/SBC No.

3 2003/2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 Executive summary . 1. 2 Introduction . 10. Objectives 10. Background . 10. Stakeholders 14. Scope of these guidelines 20. Methodology .. 20. 3 Principles of environmentally sound Management of Ship-Dismantling . 22. Concept of the Basel Convention 22. environmentally sound management .. 22. Specific challenges for ship dismantling in relation to ESM . 24. Existing practices and standards . 29. Current practices-overview . 29. India 35. China .. 37. Bangladesh .. 40. Pakistan.

4 42. Others .. 42. 4 Good practice in environmental control procedures at ship-dismantling facilities .. 43. The process of ship decommissioning for disposal .. 43. Identification of potential contaminants and prevention of releases . 45. Metals . 46. Oil and Fuel . 48. Bilge and ballast water 49. Paints and coatings .. 50. Asbestos .. 52. PCBs 53. Other waste streams .. 56. Monitoring 57. Setting standards/limits. 60. Incidents, accidents and contingency preparedness .. 63. 5 Good practice in Design, construction and operation of ship-dismantling Facilities 66.

5 Principles .. 66. Recurrence and prevention of principal hazards.. 69. Design & Construction .. 78. Operation .. 81. iii 6 Achieving environmentally sound management practices (ESM) .. 84. Differing techniques and methodologies (feasibility) . 84. Building/improving environmentally sound management of ship-dismantling facilities .. 84. Reporting (to the authorities) and verification 88. 7 Gap analysis and recommendations .. 90. The gap 90. Planning compliance .. 90. ESM-compliance . 93. 8 Principle references.

6 95. Appendix A Glossary and acronyms Appendix B List of hazardous wastes and substances under the Basel Convention that are relevant to ship dismantling Appendix C Information sources relevant to ship dismantling aspects v 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Background Current ship breaking is centred primarily in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and China. Almost all vessels, with few exceptions, are broken up at beach facilities. Compared with standards or general norms expected within the industrialised countries, current methods of ship dismantling fail to comply in many aspects.

7 Insufficiencies related to the adopted procedures include, but may not be limited to precautions, training and awareness and to facilities available. Furthermore, the implementation of measures for improvement will affect not only the ship-dismantling facility but may also raise issues relating to procedures prior to dismantling, as well as to the destiny of the waste or material streams derived from the extraction process. Problems generated by the insufficiencies of current ship-dismantling practices have consequences for not only the environment but also for occupational safety and health of the workers.

8 Environmental impacts can be categorised as follows: By occupying and expanding the areas required for breaking, the dismantling industry affects both the local surrounding, environment and society. The established local community may be relying on basic industries such as fishery and agriculture, hence conflict of interests may become an issue. Discharges and emissions to sea, ground and air cause both acute and long term pollution. The lack of containment to prevent toxins from entering the environment is a major concern.

9 In recognising the need for improving the process and further, to manage the increasing volume of vessels to be disposed, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (Basel Convention) decided to address the subject at their fifth meeting (COP 5) in December 1999. The Technical Working Group of the Basel Convention was instructed to initiate work on the development of Technical guidelines for the environmentally sound Management of the Full and Partial Dismantling of Ships.

10 Further, the Technical Working Group was instructed to provide a list of hazardous wastes and substances under the Basel Convention applicable to ship dismantling. The guidelines This document, the Technical guidelines for the environmentally sound Management of the Full and Partial Dismantling of Ships (hereafter referred to as the guidelines ), has been prepared with the intention of providing guidance to countries which have or wish to establish facilities for ship dismantling. The guidelines provide information and recommendations on procedures, processes and practices that must be implemented to attain environmentally sound Management (ESM) at such facilities.