Date of Award
2010
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Master of Science in Maritime Affairs
Specialization
Maritime Law & Policy
Campus
Malmö, Sweden
First Advisor
Mejia, Max
Abstract
Ship recycling is considered to be a safe and green solution to the disposal of ships reaching the end of their operational lives. It has become an issue of grave concern mainly due to the deteriorating records of work safety and environmental pollution associated with this activity. Therefore, international regulatory measures are needed to effectively control ship recycling activities taking into account the important factors of environmental protection and socio-economic development. The discussion in this dissertation revolves around the co-existence and effectiveness of two regulatory conventions relating to ship recycling, namely, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, 1989 and Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009. To that end, the salient features including major deficiencies of the two Conventions are analytically examined on a comparative basis from a legal standpoint as well as from the environmental and health perspectives. The public and regulatory laws on marine environmental protection are examined at the first instance with a special focus on the international law on transboundary environmental harm. Then the two Conventions in terms of both their hard and soft law components are examined in contextual detail. Finally, a summary of the discussions on this contemporary subject is presented in conclusion together with some preliminary proposals for strengthening the international regime of ship recycling. KEYWORDS: ship recycling, transboundary environmental harm, the Basel Convention, the Hong Kong Convention, safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships.